A Poweful Video

I received the text below in an e-mail and this You Tube video is worth the eight minutes it will take you to view it. I have not verified the text that came with the e-mail, but regardless of the text, you can see from the video that this woman is participating in a competition that resembles a "Got Talent" type show, and what she is able to create is pretty powerful.


This video shows the winner of 2009’s " Ukraine ’s Got Talent", Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch.

Use this link to watch this brilliant preformance: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=vOhf3OvRXKg#t=00


The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about $75,000.

She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated.

It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman’s face appears.

She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier.

This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house.

In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.

The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine , resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

An art critic said:
"I find it difficult enough to create art using paper and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers is beyond me. The art, especially when the war is used as the subject matter, even brings some audience members to tears. And there’s surely no bigger compliment."

A Festival of Joy

I just finished frying about 120 latkes. Our chavurah is coming over on Sunday for a little Chanukah party, so I need to finish cleaning the house. For a whole host of reasons, the gifts for the boys are still not wrapped. And I need to throw in a load of laundry so the Shabbat clothes are ready to go. Thank goodness for crockpots, because at least Shabbat dinner is busy cooking itself on my countertop!

Daily craziness can sometimes be overwhelming, but at holiday times, to do lists grow exponentially and getting to everything you need or want to do can be a huge challenge. It is easy to lose the joy. But, at Chanukah time, I am determined that even with all of the things I have been busy with and will continue to be busy with, that I will not lose the joy.

There are of course the easy reasons to be joyful. Eating fried latkes - pure bliss. Watching my boys' faces light up when they open their gifts - well there is truly nothing better than their smiles. Spending time with family and friends - priceless. And chocolate gelt - enough said.

But there is a deeper reason for my joy during this holiday. The word Chanukah means dedication. When you look up dedicate in the dictionary, one of the meanings listed is “to become committed to as a goal or way of life.” For a long time, I only really focused in a formal way on what I will commit to and how I want to live my life at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. At the High Holy Days, I spend a great deal of time reflecting, analyzing, thinking, and reviewing the previous year to prepare for the new year and to atone. But several years ago, it occurred to me that while Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur seem to me like the big final exam to end one year and prepare to begin the next, Chanukah is like the first report card of the new year. It’s a time to think about how things are going and to analyze if I am making the grade with my own personal goals.

We all dedicate ourselves to so many things in life - our family, our friends, our synagogues, our jobs, our volunteer activities, etc. Chanukah is a great time to reflect on what we have accomplished, what we have yet to accomplish and to think about what we need to rededicate ourselves to.

As I have thought back on the past few months and all that has happened since Rosh Hashanah, I can honestly say that I have mostly accomplished that which I wanted to by this point in time. However, there are two fairly sizeable promises I made to myself that I have not kept thus far. Taking the time to reflect has given me back a renewed commitment to making these things happen. For me, there is a tremendous amount of joy that comes from that. There are always the "have to do's" in life. But reexamining your own personal priorities and getting them back to the forefront so that you can take of them as well, now there's an added reason to celebrate during this holiday.

So over the course of the next eight days, as you watch your dreidels spin and the flames on the candles in your menorah dance, I hope that you take some time to set aside your daily to do list and to reflect. I hope you feel happy for the dedication you have shown in this year to date and I hope you feel even happier when you decide what you need to rededicate yourself to because that is the first step to making it all happen.

Wishing you much joy this Chanukah!

Pictures of You

I love taking photographs. I love looking through the lens and capturing a moment. I bring my camera to all of the events I attend at our synagogue and I've been taking photos at brunches, Sisterhood dinners, Purim celebrations, Religious School events, etc, for about 8 or 9 years now. People see me and my camera and say "oh the picture lady is here!" My simple hand gesture of huddle up is enough to get everyone together for a quick photo.

But, at every event, despite the fact that everyone is smiling and having a good time, inevitably there are those who protest when I approach them with my camera. I hear things like a) I am not photogenic, b) I have too many wrinkles, and c) I have gained too much weight.

There is a lot of worry - should I put on lipstick first, do I have salad in my teeth, should I leave my glasses on or take them off? The idea of a photo being taken makes so many people very self conscious. They automatically focus on what they perceive to be flaws.

I have to tell you all that when I look at you through my lens, I see beautiful, happy people, surrounded by friends and community members, having wonderful moments with people they care about. There are no flaws. You are all photogenic. Embrace having your picture taken and embrace the joy that comes from knowing that you can look back on the memory! Let go of what you perceive to be flaws. Be confident in who you are and just let loose with the biggest smile you have. We are our own worst enemies when it comes to our looks. Let's promise to stop doing that to ourselves!

As we prepare to spend time with friends and family for Thanksgiving, make sure to take lots of photos regardless of whether or not you are wearing lipstick! Looking back at these photos years from now will make you smile.

Wishing you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving!

4th Annual JCCNV Jewish Book Festival

Remember to check it out! The festival runs from Sunday, November 8 - Sunday, November 15. The JCC website has all of the details. For information about the hours for the festival and the various programs that will be held during the week, go to: http://www.jccnv.org/cultural-arts/4th-annual-jccnv-jewish-book-festival.html

From Yahoo - 5 Habits To Break Before It's Too Late

Saw this posted this morning on Yahoo, and thought it would be good to share. From time to time we all need a reminder about fixing the things we are doing even though we know that we shouldn't be doing them. We all knew we would gain an hour last night, but how many of us used it to get more sleep and how many stayed up later thinking that the "fall back" would save us? How many munched on Halloween candy after the trick or treaters were in for the evening and we had leftovers? Not getting enough sleep and late night noshing are two of the bad habits we need to break now. Keep reading to find out about the others...

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/5-habits-to-break-before-its-too-late-527017/

A Woman's Nation

Last week, Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress released The Shriver Report, also known as A Woman's Nation. Maria Shriver herself calls the report "an accurate and detailed portrait of American women and families at this transformational moment in our history." I read through the report and watched a few of the segments that The Today Show did about it during the week.

I have spent the past week thinking about all I've heard and all I've read and I am not sure if I have more clarity about my thoughts about a woman's nation at this point, or not. The report found that "women say they feel increasingly isolated, invisible, stressed, and misunderstood." The report notes that women do not feel like the news media accurately reflects their lives and that the government is out of touch with today's woman and does not know what they need to survive. Additionally, the report states that women are exasperated by pollsters and pundits who want to put them in convenient boxes with labels like "soccer moms."

The questions that were explored in an effort to learn some new information about today's woman are good questions. In my opinion, some of the questions do not have easy answers. Who is today's woman? How does she live, what does she think, what does she earn? How does she define power, how does she define success, and how does she want to live her life going forward?

One of the segments on The Today Show that I heard bits and pieces of as I was dashing around the house with my very hectic morning routine, was whether women take on too much and whether we are making ourselves sick and tired. I went back and rewatched the segment online so that I could actually pay attention to what was being said. Dr. Nancy Snyderman was speaking about how women today have so much on their plates and that leaves them feeling very stressed. That in turn has a big impact on our sleep and we do not get proper rest. That has a big impact on how we eat which has a big impact on our weight gain, which of course has a negative impact on our blood pressure, etc. A question was taken from a viewer about how to let go of some of the things that cause her so much stress and the answer Dr. Nancy gave is worth noting. She said to take 10 minutes out of your day and make two columns on a piece of paper. One for "things I love about my life" and one for "things I hate about my life." Once you have filled in the columns you can identify things that have crept on to your plate that have no value for you and then you can actively begin to remove those things. Sounds so simple, and is brilliant, but it's one of those things I think we all need to be reminded to do every now and again.

Interestingly enough, one viewer asked a question about IVF and insurance coverage and why some plans do not cover it, and Dr. Nancy commented that this is one of the great reproductive injustices in the insurance world. She commented that Viagra and the like are covered by insurance but birth control pills are not. She further stated that sexism is alive and well and that some people feel that just being a woman is a pre-existing condition. She says that these are hot button issues on Capitol Hill right now and she thinks we will see them addressed.

With each passing day, I found myself thinking about so many different issues facing women today. I found myself thinking about my answers to the questions I listed above that were asked about today's woman. I found answers to some of the things I thought about, but some led me to more questions. I am going to keep wrestling with my thoughts and will try to figure out where I fall in A Woman's Nation, and I wanted to ask you all to share your thoughts about this topic with the rest of us. One of the things the report mentioned is that women are looking for places to connect. Let's take advantage of this place to do just that.

Here's a link to the website for A Woman's Nation: http://awomansnation.com/awn.php

Reminder - An Evening With Maggie Anton!

I posted this several weeks ago, but I wanted to repost it as a reminder since the deadline for ordering books is fast approaching. I hope to see you at this event!


Please mark your calendars! I am so pleased to announce that the Seaboard Region of WLCJ is presenting an Evening With Maggie Anton, author of Rashi's Daughters. The event will be hosted by the Sisterhood of Olam Tikvah and will take place on Thursday, November 12, 2009, at 7:30pm.

To RSVP, please visit the link below for the form. If you wish to order copies of Book 1 - Joheved, Book 2 - Miriam, or Book 3 - Rachel, prior to the event to have them available for Maggie to sign, then please make sure to have your form and check (for books and registration fee) to me by October 26. If you just plan to attend the event and not order books, then please send your form and registration fee to me by November 1. The cost for books is $12 per copy and the cost for the event is $10 for those who are a member of a WLCJ Sisterhood and $15 for those who are not. Checks should be made payable to Seaboard Region WLCJ and sent to me.

You will find my contact information and directions to Olam Tikvah on the form as well. I hope to see you there!

http://www.wlcj.net/seaboard/news/maggie_anton_flyer.htm

Getting Organized

This is the year! This is the year that I will conquer the clutter. I have been working on this for some time, and I have been making progress, but in the past few weeks I have really kicked the process into high gear. Files are being organized, unneeded papers are being shredded or tossed, items that my kids no longer play with, use, or read are being sorted and are finding new homes, and soon the closets will be cleaned out. The more I get done, the happier I am. Being surrounded by too much stuff is stressful.

While I was sorting through some files, I came across a purple folder that I received at a workshop at a Seaboard Region conference years ago, from a consultant who was invited to talk to us about leading an organized life. In the folder are helpful hits for dealing with clutter. Obviously, I didn't pay enough attention to the hints in the folder since I still have it! But, I plan to share them with you here, and then I will toss the folder!

Below you will find hints and tips, a keep or toss checklist, and a records retention guide. Thank you to Ellen Newman of Clutter Rx for providing these to me all those years ago!

Hints and Tips for Staying Clutter Free

Imagine that you are moving and ask yourself if it's worth the effort and expense of moving an item. If not, give it a new home.

Make an uncluttering appointment with yourself on a daily, weekly or bi-weekly basis.

Start with the easy stuff like expired coupons, old flyers, catalogs, broken items not worth fixing, expired medicines, etc and throw them away.

Pare down before you buy any organizing products.

Label all containers.

Don't put things down, put them away.

Simplify your life with the 80/20 rule. Most of us use only 20% or what we own. The other 80% takes up space, creating clutter.

Limit the amount of incoming paper. Immediately get rid of junk mail. Only subscribe to a reasonable number of magazines.

Should I Keep It or Toss It? Ask These Questions:

Have I, or has anyone else in my home, used this item in the past year?

Do I have a definite use for this in the near future?

If it's broken, is it worth fixing?

Does the item serve a worthwhile purpose?

Do I need it for legal or tax reasons?

Is it more important to keep the item than it is to have the space it takes up?

Do I, or does someone else in my household, love it?

Would it be difficult or expensive for me to get another one?

Guidelines for Record Retention - Always check with an accountant when in doubt

Keep these items forever:

income tax returns
income tax payment checks (I am assuming this means the stub from the check)
investment trade confirmations
retirement and pension records
adoption papers
birth and death certificates
citizenship papers
copyrights/patents
marriage certificates/divorce decrees
power of attorney/wills/instructions to executor or heirs
passports/vaccination records
social security records

special circumstances

automobile titles, registration, repairs - until car is sold
credit card receipts until verified on your statement
insurance policies - for the life of the policy
pay stubs - until reconciled with your W2
sales receipts on appliances, electronics, etc for the life of the warranty
Utility bills - current year or longer if considering selling the house to determine usage patterns.

Hoping for Civility in 5770

Last Saturday afternoon, after returning home from Shabbat services, feeling relaxed and happy, I picked up The Washington Post to read a little while the boys were playing. I read the first story on the page and felt that happy, relaxed feeling slip away only to have it replaced with frustration. Not just about the news itself, but about the way we are all treating one another. As you are all aware by now, a week ago Congressman Wilson interupted the President's speech, shouting his disagreement at a most inappropriate time. No matter what party you indentify with, I hope we can all agree that interupting the President in that moment showed a lack of courtesy. However, I also saw comments made during the week on a friend's Facebook page, that implied that Wilson's bad choice in that moment showed that all Republicans are a bunch of "infantile nimwits" and that "we can now see clearly what we are up against". So prior to Shabbat I was thinking about things like lack of decorum and name calling. Additionally, I was feeling dismay that we have way too many "us vs them" feelings in this country about Republicans and Democrats. It is my opinion that we should recognize that we all have different approaches, but we all want what is best for our country, so lets exchange ideas and work things out so that everyone wins. Then I picked up the paper on Shabbat and it was all right there in front of me again.

On Saturday, as I read a story on the front page, I read a line about "right-wing nutballs" and how in the "absence of any real leadership, the freaks fill the void and define the party". A few pages in to there was an article about a man in Michigan who held grudges against several people in his town, so he went on a shooting spree and killed two. More name calling. More unflattering classifications of people we disagree with. More disagreements that are not worked out. Then on Sunday, Kanye West interupts Taylor Swift at the VMAs and takes away her moment. President Obama is overheard referring to Kanye West as a jackass.

In less than one week, we heard elected officials from both parties show a lack of decorum, make poor choices, and contribute to a demonstration of an overall lack of civility and basic manners. Just because a person makes a poor choice in a particular moment does not mean that we should resort to name calling nor should we apply that person's mistake to an entire group of people. The mistakes of Bernard Madoff do not apply to all Jews, the mistakes of Kanye West do not apply to all African Americans, and the mistakes of individual Republicans and Democrats do not apply to all Republicans and Democrats.

We have been hearing about teachable moments lately. When mistakes happen we can learn from them. But we all need to understand that when we classify groups of people with names that are less than nice, like nutballs or nimwits, we are also teaching something in that moment, just not something that we want to teach!

Everytime I walk into my children's school, I see the seven core virtues, that are taught to the kids and that guide them in their daily activities, posted everywhere. They are respect, compassion, honesty, perseverance, responsibility, giving, and self-discipline. The kids are expected to commit to having good character by demonstating the core virtues each and every day. Wouldn't it be nice if the grown ups in this world, who they watch and listen to and look up to followed the core virtues as well?


This weekend we will celebrate Rosh Hashanah and will welcome the start of 5770. As we sit in services, and think about the year that was and the year that is to be, I would like to call your attention to a note in the Machzor that comes just before the blessing before the Haftarah reading on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. It says the following: Like Sarah, Hannah manifests grave concern for the spiritual welfare of her child. Her example teaches us that the future of Judaism is largely in the hands of the Jewish mother. In our day, even more than in the past, the mother is responsible for her child's interest in religious education. The Jewish mother determines whether or not her home shall be permeated with a wholesome Jewish atmosphere. She can inculcate in the child a love for the Synagogue and for Jewish learning.

Part of creating a Jewish atmosphere and part of Jewish learning is avoiding lashon hara, or hurtful speech. Let's all make a renewed committment to demonstrating courteous, civil, well-mannered behavior and avoiding name calling, labeling, and other examples of lashon hara in this new year, and create meaningful teachable moments for our children. Maybe we can get elected officials to follow our lead!


Wishing you all a Shanah Tovah - may it be a happy, healthy, peaceful, and sweet new year!

Family Community Service Opportunity

My apologies for the formatting issues with this post, but I wanted to get this information out to you quickly! Please check out this great program called Beads that Bind, that is happening this Sunday. Here is the information from the flyer:



Women’s Philanthropy and The Jewish Foundation for Group Homes invite you to bring your creativity, your family and your VOICES

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Join us as we dedicate ourselves to a day of community service where we will:

• Create beaded projects with residents of the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes


• Sing songs together


• Make friends and play games
  
  These are the opportunities that lift our spirits and enrich our lives.
  Choose the location and time that work best for you:
  
  1:00 p.m. Gesher Jewish Day School, 4700 Shirley Gate Road, Fairfax, VA
  
  3:30 p.m. Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, 6125 Montrose Road, Rockville, MD
  
  To learn more or to register visit www.shalomdc.org/women or call 301-348-7320.
  
  This program is a gateway to Women’s Philanthropy’s VOICES event - Celebrating the Choices women make so their VOICES will be heard, on October 12, 2009. To learn more, visit www.shalomdc.org/voices
  
  Northern Virginia Chair: Kelly Kogan
  Maryland Chairs: Shelley Ducker, Amie Perl
  

A Reminder About An Evening With Maggie Anton!

I posted this several weeks ago, but I wanted to repost it as a reminder since the deadline for ordering books is fast approaching. I hope to see you at this event!


Please mark your calendars! I am so pleased to announce that the Seaboard Region of WLCJ is presenting an Evening With Maggie Anton, author of Rashi's Daughters. The event will be hosted by the Sisterhood of Olam Tikvah and will take place on Thursday, November 12, 2009, at 7:30pm.

To RSVP, please visit the link below for the form. If you wish to order copies of Book 1 - Joheved, Book 2 - Miriam, or Book 3 - Rachel, prior to the event to have them available for Maggie to sign, then please make sure to have your form and check (for books and registration fee) to me by October 26. If you just plan to attend the event and not order books, then please send your form and registration fee to me by November 1. The cost for books is $12 per copy and the cost for the event is $10 for those who are a member of a WLCJ Sisterhood and $15 for those who are not. Checks should be made payable to Seaboard Region WLCJ and sent to me.

You will find my contact information and directions to Olam Tikvah on the form as well. I hope to see you there!

http://www.wlcj.net/seaboard/news/maggie_anton_flyer.htm

Another great article

Thanks to Meredith Jacobs for pointing this one out to me. Anytime you have the chance to learn something from Dr. Erica Brown, take it!

Check out Dr. Brown's article titled Boredom Is So Interesting. Read all the way through to the end for a potential new Sisterhood activity...

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c55_a16513/Editorial__Opinion/Opinion.html

Building A Jewish Memory Bank

Below is a link to an article called Building a Jewish Memory Bank, that is really worth your time. It was published in the summer issue of CJ magazine and was written by Rabbi Susan Leider. Whether you are a Jew by birth or by choice, this article will make you think about your own Jewish Memory Bank, how you can engage with your community to continue to build your memory bank, the roles of the mavens and connectors, and the questions we should all be asking ourselves as we look forward to a new year filled with opportunities to be a part of a very vibrant Northern Virginia Jewish Community.

http://www.uscj.org/Building_a_Jewish_Me8061.html

A Walk Down Memory Lane

If you remember the thwacking sound of a filmstrip ending in your elementary school classroom, and actually dialing a phone number, carrying dimes and then quarters to use the pay phone when you needed a ride home after practice, and life before there was something called MTV, then you will likely enjoy taking a stroll down memory lane with this list provided by wired.com. Author Nathan Barry has composed a list of 100 things your kids may never know about, unless of course we tell them...

• 100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About
• By Nathan Barry
• July 22, 2009
• 8:00 am
• Categories: Armchair Geek

There are some things in this world that will never be forgotten, this week’s 40th anniversary of the moon landing for one. But Moore’s Law and our ever-increasing quest for simpler, smaller, faster and better widgets and thingamabobs will always ensure that some of the technology we grew up with will not be passed down the line to the next generation of geeks.

That is, of course, unless we tell them all about the good old days of modems and typewriters, slide rules and encyclopedias …

Audio-Visual Entertainment

1. Inserting a VHS tape into a VCR to watch a movie or to record something.
2. Super-8 movies and cine film of all kinds.
3. Playing music on an audio tape using a personal stereo. See what happens when you give a Walkman to today’s teenager.
4. The number of TV channels being a single digit. I remember it being a massive event when Britain got its fourth channel.
5. Standard-definition, CRT TVs filling up half your living room.
6. Rotary dial televisions with no remote control. You know, the ones where the kids were the remote control.
7. High-speed dubbing.
8. 8-track cartridges.
9. Vinyl records. Even today’s DJs are going laptop or CD.
10. Betamax tapes.
11. MiniDisc.
12. Laserdisc: the LP of DVD.
13. Scanning the radio dial and hearing static between stations. (Digital tuners + HD radio b0rk this concept.)
14. Shortwave radio.
15. 3-D movies meaning red-and-green glasses.
16. Watching TV when the networks say you should. Tivo and Sky+ are slowing killing this one.
17. That there was a time before ‘reality TV.’

Computers and Videogaming

18. Wires. OK, so they’re not gone yet, but it won’t be long
19. The scream of a modem connecting.
20. The buzz of a dot-matrix printer
21. 5- and 3-inch floppies, Zip Discs and countless other forms of data storage.
22. Using jumpers to set IRQs.
23. DOS.
24. Terminals accessing the mainframe.
25. Screens being just green (or orange) on black.
26. Tweaking the volume setting on your tape deck to get a computer game to load, and waiting ages for it to actually do it.
27. Daisy chaining your SCSI devices and making sure they’ve all got a different ID.
28. Counting in kilobytes.
29. Wondering if you can afford to buy a RAM upgrade.
30. Blowing the dust out of a NES cartridge in the hopes that it’ll load this time.
31. Turning a PlayStation on its end to try and get a game to load.
32. Joysticks.
33. Having to delete something to make room on your hard drive.
34. Booting your computer off of a floppy disk.
35. Recording a song in a studio.

The Internet

36. NCSA Mosaic.
37. Finding out information from an encyclopedia.
38. Using a road atlas to get from A to B.
39. Doing bank business only when the bank is open.
40. Shopping only during the day, Monday to Saturday.
41. Phone books and Yellow Pages.
42. Newspapers and magazines made from dead trees.
43. Actually being able to get a domain name consisting of real words.
44. Filling out an order form by hand, putting it in an envelope and posting it.
45. Not knowing exactly what all of your friends are doing and thinking at every moment.
46. Carrying on a correspondence with real letters, especially the handwritten kind.
47. Archie searches.
48. Gopher searches.
49. Concatenating and UUDecoding binaries from Usenet.
50. Privacy.
51. The fact that words generally don’t have num8er5 in them.
52. Correct spelling of phrases, rather than TLAs.
53. Waiting several minutes (or even hours!) to download something.
54. The time before botnets/security vulnerabilities due to always-on and always-connected PCs
55. The time before PC networks.
56. When Spam was just a meat product — or even a Monty Python sketch.

Gadgets

57. Typewriters.
58. Putting film in your camera: 35mm may have some life still, but what about APS or disk?
59. Sending that film away to be processed.
60. Having physical prints of photographs come back to you.
61. CB radios.
62. Getting lost. With GPS coming to more and more phones, your location is only a click away.
63. Rotary-dial telephones.
64. Answering machines.
65. Using a stick to point at information on a wallchart
66. Pay phones.
67. Phones with actual bells in them.
68. Fax machines.
69. Vacuum cleaners with bags in them.

Everything Else

70. Taking turns picking a radio station, or selecting a tape, for everyone to listen to during a long drive.
71. Remembering someone’s phone number.
72. Not knowing who was calling you on the phone.
73. Actually going down to a Blockbuster store to rent a movie.
74. Toys actually being suitable for the under-3s.
75. LEGO just being square blocks of various sizes, with the odd wheel, window or door.
76. Waiting for the television-network premiere to watch a movie after its run at the theater.
77. Relying on the 5-minute sport segment on the nightly news for baseball highlights.
78. Neat handwriting.
79. The days before the nanny state.
80. Starbuck being a man.
81. Han shoots first.
82. “Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.” But they’ve already seen episode III, so it’s no big surprise.
83. Kentucky Fried Chicken, as opposed to KFC.
84. Trig tables and log tables.
85. “Don’t know what a slide rule is for …”
86. Finding books in a card catalog at the library.
87. Swimming pools with diving boards.
88. Hershey bars in silver wrappers.
89. Sliding the paper outer wrapper off a Kit-Kat, placing it on the palm of your hand and clapping to make it bang loudly. Then sliding your finger down the silver foil to break off the first finger
90. A Marathon bar (what a Snickers used to be called in Britain).
91. Having to manually unlock a car door.
92. Writing a check.
93. Looking out the window during a long drive.
94. Roller skates, as opposed to blades.
95. Cash.
96. Libraries as a place to get books rather than a place to use the internet.
97. Spending your entire allowance at the arcade in the mall.
98. Omni Magazine
99. A physical dictionary — either for spelling or definitions.
100. When a ‘geek’ and a ‘nerd’ were one and the same.

My thanks go out to all of my fellow GeekDads for their contributions to this list.

Prayers

Many of us offer them about lots of different things. Sometimes it’s as simple as a prayer for no rain during a field trip or a soccer game. Or sometimes it’s a prayer for rain so that a game is postponed on what is already a busy day and you can use the time for something else. We offer prayers for little everyday things we would like to see happen or not happen, but in my experience those prayers don’t seem to carry the same weight as the ones that are offered on Shabbat and holidays, and those don’t even seem to carry the same weight as the prayers offered when something is wrong.

When I hear bad news, the first thing I think to say is “I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.” And then I really do. But I realized something last week that I have been doing for the past three years and it took a child’s experience to help me see the error of my ways.

Every single time I have uttered “I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers” since August of 2006 through last week, I have had a little moment of guilt hit me. Right after the words would come out of my mouth, I would feel like I had done a disservice to the person I had just said this to, because with all of the tsouris in my world, I would think to myself, what business do I have offering my prayers when obviously my prayers are not working? If my prayers are not working, then by offering them to someone else am I offering broken prayers that will do them no good, or even worse, could I somehow have a negative effect on them since even though I am praying so hard, my prayers are seemingly answered with more tsouris?

It was last week, when a friend shared with me that his child felt like something was her fault because she had not prayed hard enough, that my heart broke and my immediate thought was of course it was not her fault. I was sure that her prayers were offered fervently, with all of her energy and commitment for the best possible outcome, and the fact that things did not work out as all had hoped for was not a reflection on her prayers, or how she offered them. She should not feel guilty about her prayers, or feel for a single moment that her prayers were not worthy, or that they were ineffective. Any thought offered to support or comfort another is a wonderful gift, no matter how intangible, and should always be thought of as such. And regardless of the outcome, prayers answered or not, the offering of the prayer, the act of wishing only the best for another person, is such a moment of lovingkindness, that I wanted this child to know that she and the person she prayed for shared that moment and the specialness of that should not be replaced by feelings of guilt. It was in this moment, when I was thinking all of these thoughts about this situation, that I realized that all of the things that occurred to me about this child, applied to me as well.

I need to lose the guilt. Imagine that – a Jewish woman trying to lose the guilt! Could be easier said than done, but I am really trying. My prayers are not broken. Whether or not I feel like my prayers are being answered has no bearing on my capability of offering prayers to others. Any tsouris I am experiencing cannot rub off onto anyone else. Anytime you offer your best thoughts and wishes to another person, you are doing something helpful even if it doesn’t always feel that way based on the outcome.

Women are so helpful to each other in times of trouble. Comforting words are at the ready and we point out what is so clear to us about the situation because that’s easy to do from an outside the situation perspective. I am very grateful to have had a chance encounter that gave me the opportunity to look at myself from a new perspective and to make an adjustment to my thought process. I will continue to keep my friends and family members in my thoughts and prayers, only now, without guilt or judgment about the quality of my prayers.

Staying Positive

I was having a pretty good week. I was feeling so triumphant for silly little reasons – I caught up on the laundry (if only for one day!), I secured all of the back to school supplies on both of my boys’ lists (yes – I know it’s only July, but ladies if you wait too long, trust me – the glue sticks will be gone!), and every single night at dinner time, there were no complaints about what I served – amazing!

I was also feeling so triumphant for a few big reasons. All of the details have been taken care of for three bathroom renovations! Work starts on Monday. And perhaps, most important of all, all of the details have been taken care of for one overnight trip, one long weekend trip, and one week-long vacation. This is huge for us, as we have not been able to take a vacation for three years due to many health issues.

And then, I encountered a few very unhappy people who seemed determined to rain on our parade. These are people we are connected to, but who are the glass is always half empty, there is no joy in the world, types who have an uncanny ability to spread their misery at the worst possible times. And, the things that cause them to be miserable, are things that make us say “are you kidding me?” and “really?” They have a knack for making mountains out of molehills, and dwelling upon things they cannot control or change. They try to drag us into the middle of whatever the latest episode involves and every time this happens, they are able to bring us down a little bit.

We have been through many of these episodes with these people over the years and when it happens, we try to work through it with them. But we have now pretty much come to the conclusion that for them, things will not change and this situation will likely not improve.

However, we are determined that it’s time to draw the line, to no longer allow them to bring us down for even a little bit, and to continue to look at the glass as being half full! No matter what is on your plate, no matter what you are facing in life, there are moments of joy to focus on, there are things to be grateful for and ways to stay positive. Sometimes you really have to hunt around to find the humor in a situation or to locate the happy moments, but they are there. You just have to want to find them.

I have found two sources with tips on how to stay happy. One is from Woman’s Day magazine and has 12 easy ways to stay positive no matter what! The other is from Time Magazine and is a list of 20 Ways to Get and Stay Happy.

http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Health/Reframe-Your-Life.html

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/0,28757,1631176,00.html

Check them out and please share your best tips on staying positive even when dealing with tough situations.

10 Reasons Worshipping the Sun is Actually Healthy For You

Sounds like such a contradiction to so much we have heard over the years, doesn't it? Yesterday, as I was driving around doing errands, I heard this list read on the radio, and when I got home I searched the internet for it and found it posted on Yahoo, in the Shine from Yahoo section, written by Brett Blumenthal. Here is the text from the 10 reasons that were posted there.



Of course, exposure to sunlight is a risk for skin cancer, so this should not be taken as a green light for subjecting yourself to hours in the sun without sunscreen. The article states that depending on your skin type, you probably need 5 to 30 minutes of sun exposure to the face, arms, back or legs (without sunscreen) twice every week. Consider the benefits listed below, and make your own call.



1. Vitamin D: Vitamin D is the only vitamin that can be synthesized in the skin through a photosynthetic reaction triggered by exposure to UVB radiation. Vitamin D, specifically is important for immune response, mood stability, and bone health. Vitamin D deficiencies have been directly linked to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), osteomalacia (a softening of the bones because of defective bone mineralization), and, increased premature cancer mortality.



2. Happy Hormones: Exposure to sunlight enhances our overall mental outlook and sense of wellbeing. The skin's exposure to sunshine releases endorphins. Endorphins are our body's natural anti-depressants, and as a result, a lack of sunshine can cause decreased endorphin production, resulting in depression disorders.



3. Circulation and Heart Health: Sunshine helps to increase circulation by dilating the blood vessels in the skin and enhances heart health by decreasing blood pressure, while increasing cardiac output. This facilitates the transportation of nutrients and oxygen to our cells.



4. Natural Detox: Sunshine exposure helps to increase liver function, which is responsible for filtering and removing wastes from the body. Further, as a result of increased circulation from the sun, we are able to more efficiently, eliminate the waste through our blood.



5. Skin Health: Although too much exposure can increase risk of skin cancer, exposure to the sun can increase the healing of skin diseases and conditions such as eczema, skin ulcers, skin fungal infections, and acne.



6. Immune System: Sunshine increases production of both red and white blood cells, strengthening the immune system.



7. Boosted Metabolism: Sunshine can help with weight loss. This is due to the fact that it helps to boost metabolism and maintain blood sugar levels.



8. Natural Disinfectant and Antibiotic: Sunshine kills harmful viruses and bacteria, making it a natural antibiotic and disinfectant. Many disease microbes are killed by sunshine.



9. Cancer Prevention: Yep, you heard me right. Turns out, that sunshine can actually help prevent some cancers (breast, ovarian, and colo-rectal). This is a direct result of the synthesis of Vitamin D, which is important in warding off these types of cancers.



10. Improved Sleeping Patterns: Melatonin production is enhanced by sun exposure. Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland, that encourages sleep.

Interesting Article - Eat Less, Exercise More - Gain Weight?

I came across this article on momlogic.com and it sounded all too familiar. I have been fairly ticked off at my metabolism lately and now realize I have been making a few of these mistakes. This one is worth a read:

http://www.momlogic.com/2009/05/weight_loss_mistakes.php

Once we have the points in the article above in the forefront of our minds, staying motivated in our drive to be physically fit can be tricky. As I was reading my July/August 2009 issue of Women's Health, I came across this article and thought I would pass it on as well.

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/stay-motivated

Do you have a favorite workout routine? Fitness tips to share? Please comment so that we can all benefit from your advice!

A Ritual for the Road

Every spring, in mid to late May, I find myself offering up a little prayer. As I hear the squeal of tires and the vrooming sound of cars speeding up and down my neighborhood street as if it were a lane on a racetrack, and I remember that the college kids are home and the new high school drivers have spring fever, I pray that no one in the neighborhood gets hurt as a result of a young driver feeling invincible and extra cool when driving fast. I have no doubt that there are some very responsible young drivers out there, and I know quite well that there are plenty of adults who ignore speed limit signs and disobey all rules of the road. However, as unfair as it might be, I worry more about the young drivers.

I was reading an article in the June 2, 2009, issue of Women’s Day by Paula Spencer titled “Give Me A Brake!” In it she says that she could make a long list of things she once feared as a parent and that two of the scariest scenarios she could imagine that seemed to loom far in the future were paying for college and having a teenage driver. Her oldest is now 16 and has his learner’s permit, so that once far away milestone is here. She states: “Sixteen-year-olds may look mature on the outside. But better neuroimaging over the past decade has shown scientists that the teen brain is, well, only half-baked. The prefrontal cortex, the part that controls judgment, values, long-term goals and impulse control, doesn’t finish ramping up until long after age 16 – not until around 25, as a matter of fact. No wonder car crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the US – especially in the first year a teen is licensed, according to the CDC.”

It was after reading this article, and hearing the aforementioned zooming around my neighborhood, that I remembered hearing about a specific ritual for new drivers. I was at a Women’s League Convention a few years ago where one of the breakout sessions featured Lori Hope Lefkovitz. Lori is the Director of Kolot, the Center for Jewish Women’s & Gender Studies (check out Kolot at www.kolot.org). In our session, we discussed existing rituals, but actually spent more of our time thinking of life events where a ritual would be comforting to have where one didn’t already exist. We talked about a few together and then were encouraged to create our own rituals.

Kolot created a website called www.Ritualwell.org that “gives Jewish women and men around the world access to the abundance of new, meaningful rituals and prayers for holidays and lifecycle events.” Check out the site for yourself to see all that they have to offer, but most relevant to this posting is the new driver ritual which can be found below. Maybe going through it with your teen drivers will be helpful as they head out in a car, on their own. Maybe it will only serve to help parents of teenage drivers feel a little better as their kids hit the road. Whichever is the case for your family, I thought it was worth passing on to you. Ritualwell.org also has a section on rituals for travelling, so if you want to engage in a moment of reflection and prayer before leaving your home, you can check those out as well. Wishing you all safe summer travels!

A Family Ritual for a New Driver

By Rabbi Rona Shapiro

Undoubtedly, receiving one's first driver's license has become a major milestone on the road to adulthood. Usually, its means different things to the teenager and to the parents -- the teenager is filled with the excitement of her new independence and freedom and the recognition of her adult privileges; the parents are filled with trepidation -- is their child really ready for this momentous moment? Will they drive safely and exercise good judgement? A ritual for parents and children helps to integrate this mixture of feelings, enabling the parents to recognize the child's accomplishment while simultaneously offering words of caution and protection.

The Ritual

· On or close to the day on which the child receives her driver's license, prepare her favorite meal and plan to have everyone home to celebrate.

· Together, write a contract, in which parents and children spell out expectations around use of the car. A sample contract¹ might look like this:

Respecting the privilege of driving, I will:

· Wear a seatbelt and ask my passengers to do the same

· Drive at or under the posted speed limit

· Respect the rules of the road

· Drive with courtesy and caution

· Be home on time or call before I am late

· Take care of the car, reporting problems immediately

· Refuse to drink or use any drugs when driving

We will:

· Expect to be called if any problem with the car or passengers arise

· Come get you, no questions asked, when you need us

· Always take care of repairs needed on the car.

Both parties should sign the contract and keep it somewhere safe.

Parents and the new driver can then read tefilat haderech (prayer for the road) together. One can also find this prayer printed on a plastic keyring or a plastic version that hangs from the rear view mirror which would make an appropriate gift for the occasion. Also see the driver's prayer in the personal milestones section of ritualwell.org.

Tefilat Haderech (Traveller's Prayer)

Masculine:

Yehi ratzon milfanekha Adonai Eloheinu ve'Elohei avoteinu shetolikhenu l'shalom,
v'tatzidenu l'shalom, v'tadrikhenu l'shalom, v'tagi'enu limchoz cheftzenu l'chayim
ul'simchah ul'shalom v'tatzilenu mikaf kol oyev v'orev (v'listim v'chayot ra'ot)
baderekh, umikol minei puranuyot hamitragshot lavo la-olam, v'tishlach brakhah
be(khol) ma'aseh yadeinu, v'titnenu l'chen ul'chesed ul'rachamim b'einekha uv'einei khol
ro'einu, v'tishma kol tachanuneinu, ki El shome'a t'filah v'tachanun attah. Barukh
attah Adonai, shome'a t'filah.

Feminine:

T'hi ratzon milfanayikh Adonai Eloheinu v'Elohei imoteinu shetolikhinu l'shalom,
v'tatzi'dinu l'shalom, v'tadrikhinu l'shalom, v'tagi'inu limchoz cheftzenu l'chayim
ul'simchah ul'shalom v'tatzilinu mikaf kol oyev v'orev (v'listim v'chayot ra'ot)
baderekh, umikol minei puranuyot hamitragshot lavo la-olam, v'tishl'chi brakhah
be(khol) ma'aseh yadeinu, v'titninu l'chen ul'chesed ul'rachamim b'einekha uv'einei khol
ro'einu, v'tishmi kol tachanuneinu, ki El shoma'at t'filah v'tachanun at. B'rukhah
at Yah, shoma'at t'filah.

May it be Your will, Lord our God and God our ancestors, that you lead us toward peace, place our footsteps toward peace, guide us toward peace, and make us reach our desired destination for life, gladness and peace and return us to our homes in peace. May You rescue us from the hand of every foe, ambush along the way and from all manner of punishments that assemble to come to earth. May You send blessing in our handiwork, and grant us grace, kindness, and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who see us. May You hear the sound of our supplication, because You are God Who hears prayer and supplication. Blessed are You, God, Who hears prayer.

-------------------------

1. Sample Contract taken from How to Bury a Goldfish...and 113 Other Family Rituals for Everyday Life by Virginia E. Lang and Louise B. Nayer (Daybreak Books, 2000).

Used by permission of the author

A Mitzvah a Day

I was reading an article in the July issue of Women’s Day called Recession Angels. It’s about three women in different parts of the country who are helping those in need. The first woman profiled operates a child care facility. She offered free daycare service to parents who have been laid off from their jobs, so that their kids are cared for while they are searching for a new job. The second woman organized a Clothing and Toy Exchange. Families donated things that their kids have outgrown, and anyone in the community, whether they donated anything or not, could come and take what they needed for free. The third woman created the Foreclosure Angel Foundation to lend a hand to people who need some help to get through a crisis so that they can stay in their homes.

In the July issue of Parenting - School Years magazine, there is an article called Homeless in the Suburbs. The stories of three families, in three different parts of the country, are reported. They are all experiencing tough times due to the economic downturn.

As I read, I felt very proud of my Sisterhood because I know that we have an ongoing community service project to provide new and gently used clothing to a local elementary school where there is a large population of families in need. Even though I always participate in our group collection efforts, I now feel compelled to do more personally. After reading these articles and thinking “oh how terrible for these families” I could not just close the magazines and walk away from these issues. I wanted to share the information because together we can have the chance to have a positive effect on the people in need in our NoVA community.

This year Women’s League launched a program called Mitzvah Yomit – A Mitzvah A Day. Everyday we have the opportunity to do things to help repair our world. WLCJ has created a 3x5 inch pamphlet that unfolds into a list of Berakhot, as well as a list of ideas to help us all get started with performing a Mitzvah a day. It’s a great tool to remind us all of the possibilities before us and how we can easily fit many of them into our lives. Whether or not you have a copy of the pamphlet in your hands, if we all embrace the concept, and work together, we can make a big impact.

If your organization is looking for a Tzedakah project for the coming year, maybe you will be inspired by one of the women referenced above. Or maybe you will be moved to help families who are homeless. The article on homelessness included a box called “how to help” and gave the following resources: www.serve.org/nche to find your school district’s Local Homeless Education Liaison to help you find the people who need you; www.nationalhomeless.org to find a local group you could volunteer with to lend your expertise in something like resume writing, or babysitting to help job hunters; www.familyhomelessness.org to donate to a group dedicated specifically to helping homeless families. If you start at this site and shop at certain online stores like www.amazon.com, the organization will receive a donation at no cost to you; and at the site for the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (www.naehcy.org), you can donate to a scholarship fund.

If you already have a Tzedakah project, please share what it is with the NoVA community. If we are aware of each others efforts, we can all help each other. What are you collecting? What organizations are you supporting? What items are needed? Please post comments to let us know and let’s all share in doing a mitzvah a day.

Never a Better Time for a Book Purchase

It was my absolute pleasure to meet Rabbi Sherre Hirsch this year. I called Rabbi Hirsch to invite her to be a speaker at the Seaboard Region Education Day after I saw her on The Today Show talking about her book, We Plan, God Laughs. There is a subtitle to her book - 10 Steps to Finding Your Divine Path When Life Is Not Turning Out Like You Wanted – but when I saw the show, all I heard was the first part, because at the time, with what was going on in my life, I felt like I had planned and God had laughed. The past three years have held many challenging moments for my family and I didn’t even realize just how deeply the tsouris had penetrated until the day Rabbi Hirsch and I first spoke about this event. I shared with her when I got to meet her in person, the impact that our first conversation had on me. Her words were ones I will never forget because they helped put me back on my path. She said, Susan, God must be smiling on you, because I will be on the east coast then, and it looks like I can do this event. I was beyond thrilled that she would be able to come to Education Day, but I was also thrilled to know that God could be smiling on me. Even with all the “stuff” in my life, and we all have “stuff” from time to time, God can smile on us. I immediately ordered her book and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Rabbi Hirsch is one of those people I consider myself so lucky to have encountered in my life. When she speaks, I pay attention. Her insights are noteworthy, she makes me think about things in a new way, and she inspires me.

I check Rabbi Hirsch’s website from time to time to read through her blog and tonight I found this message:

What to do when life hits you over the head

Life certainly hit us over the head. Four months after We Plan, God Laughs was published my mother was diagnosed with Glioblastoma (GBM) stage 4 brain cancer. I dedicated this book to my mother for her courage and how she overcame so many challenges in her life. Now she is facing her biggest challenge yet, and she and many others suffering with GBM need your help.

Today June 16, 2009, my mother turns 65 years old and the paperback of We Plan, God Laughs with a new epilogue goes on sale.

In celebration , I am donating 10% of the profits to the Art of the Brain Fund to help in the fight against brain cancer.

To celebrate with us:
1. Buy the paperback of We Plan, God Laughs.
2. Send this email to three friends and ask them to do the same.

I pray that the new edition of We Plan, God Laughs will heal in more ways than one.


Please check out Rabbi Hirsch’s website for yourself at www.sherrehirsch.com and please consider buying a copy of her book. You will find healing and inspiration for yourself and you will help in the fight against brain cancer at the same time. There has never been a better time for a book purchase.

Background on Rabbi Hirsch

In 1998, after being ordained by JTS, Rabbi Hirsch joined Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, becoming the first female rabbi in its century-long history, where she served for eight years. She developed the popular Jewish Women’s Spirituality Retreat for Canyon Ranch, where she now serves as a spiritual life consultant. In January 2008 she joined MomLogic.com, a website for thinking moms who don't have time to think, as their spirituality expert.

Since stepping out from behind the pulpit, Rabbi Hirsch has brought her expertise to television viewers nationwide on shows such as “New Morning” on the Hallmark Channel, serving as a spiritual expert for “The Today Show,” a relationship expert on “The Tyra Banks Show” and a guest on the PBS series “Thirty Good Minutes.”

Summer Reading List – Suggestions?

My kids will finish school this week and I can feel myself switching into summer mode. This is an automatic, instinctive reaction to the rising temperatures and not at all a reflection of reality. Remember when summer meant carefree days, Italian ices at the beach and hours spent running all over the neighborhood with friends? Summer meant time off from school, homework, deadlines, and projects. It’s been a long time since I had a summer off like my body and mind instinctively want to have each and every year. The reality is that the grown-up world means deadlines and projects don’t really care that it’s summer! But I have decided that I will not give up on a piece of the carefree summer I once knew.

I grew up on the eastern end of Long Island and that meant that I was at the beach all the time. To this day, nothing sounds more relaxing to me than sitting in a chair on the sand, listening to the waves, while reading a really good book. While I have to mostly give up on the beach chair part now, I will never let go of a great summer reading list.

I have some ideas for my list that I want to share with you. Women’s League for Conservative Judaism (WLCJ) maintains a list of suggested book club books for Sisterhoods and I have fallen behind on reading many of them. So, my list for this summer includes People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, The Faith Club by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver and Priscilla Warner, and Disobedience by Naomi Alderman. You can check out the whole list of WLCJ suggested books at www.wlcj.org.

I also noticed on Maggie Anton’s website that Book III Rachel is coming on August 4! Here is the description posted on www.rashisdaughters.com: Rachel is Salomon’s favorite and adored by her husband, Eliezer. But everything she holds dear is threatened as the marauders of the First Crusade massacre the Jews of Germany and her father suffers a stroke. Eliezer wants them to move to the safety of Spain, but Rachel is determined to stay in France and help her family save the Troyes yeshiva, the only remnant of the great Talmud academies.

I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. If you have not yet read the first two books in the series, I highly recommend them and if you start now, you will be all caught up in time for Book III.

What else should go on my summer reading list? What titles can you recommend to all of us? Please share the book titles that you or your book club really enjoyed so that we will all be able to settle in with a good story and a big glass of lemonade, and for a small portion of the day, we can recapture that feeling of the summer break we all used to enjoy.