Dreaming of a White Pesach?

NEARLY WORDLESS SPECIAL

When Pesach comes in mid-April, we really don't expect this.

Not even at our elevation.

Dawn, April 9, 2009--15 Nisan 5769: The first day of Pesach

We had a light dusting of snow overnight. The day was cool and windy.

Shabbat morning, April 11, 2009--17 Nisan:

Rain in the night, followed by sleet and freezing rain.

Shabbat afternoon, April 11, 2009:

Very wet snow and freezing rain alternated all afternoon. We were feeling sorry for our Christian neighbors as the Saturday afternoon Easter Egg hunt in the park was called off.

Sunday morning, April 12, 2009:

We went to sleep to clearing skies.

We awoke to more snow on the ground,

and snow falling,

wet and heavy.

Sunday, late morning:

A few inches of snow on the ground, the temperature is hovering right at the freezing point here, with a cold wind blowing.

I hear it snowed in town.

Happy White Pesach to those celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread, as we are!

Happy White Easter to our Christian neighbors.

Spring is just around the corner. Really.

A Different View of Obama's European Tour

Here in the United States, many of us have been dismayed by President Obama's behavior on his recent trip to Europe. My dismay started even earlier with his treatment of our closest allies, when the Prime Minister of England came to the United States.

I was further dismayed when our president, who represents the United States of America--that is US--went to Europe and told leaders in Strasbourg that America has been arrogant and derisive. (Like when the US engaged in considerable sacrifice to save Europe from the National Socialists of Germany and the fascists of Italy? Oh, I forgot, Obama means to bring European style socialism to the US. And as for fascism--well, look at the takeover of private companies). He cravenly apologized for our history while at the same time chiding Europe for the very anti-Americanism he was displaying. (Which is the real message?) And that bow to the tyrant of Saudi Arabia? Please. Americans are not subjects, we are free citizens. We bow to no man. If we, the citizens do not, then, as our representative, neither should Obama. No matter how much oil the king controls.

(For a detailed analysis of the meaning of the bow, see Ed Cline's discussion at the Rule of Reason ).

When is this man going to quit campaigning for love and adulation and actually own the presidency?

But apparently, these insults are small potatoes to us, compared to what was communicated to our democratic allies across the globe. For example, I read this from Caroline Glick at The Jerusalem Post:

"Somewhere between apologizing for American history - both distant and recent; genuflecting before the unelected, bigoted king of Saudi Arabia; announcing that he will slash the US's nuclear arsenal, scrap much of America's missile defense programs and emasculate the US Navy; leaving Japan to face North Korea and China alone; telling the Czechs, Poles and their fellow former Soviet colonies, "Don't worry, be happy," as he leaves them to Moscow's tender mercies; humiliating Iraq's leaders while kowtowing to Iran; preparing for an open confrontation with Israel; and thanking Islam for its great contribution to American history, President Obama made clear to the world's aggressors that America will not be confronting them for the foreseeable future.

Whether they are aggressors like Russia, proliferators like North Korea, terror exporters like nuclear-armed Pakistan or would-be genocidal-terror-supporting nuclear states like Iran, today, under the new administration, none of them has any reason to fear Washington."

Later she says this:

"AMERICA'S BETRAYAL of its democratic allies makes each of them more vulnerable to aggression at the hands of their enemies - enemies the Obama administration is now actively attempting to appease. And as the US strengthens their adversaries at their expense, these spurned democracies must consider their options for surviving as free societies in this new, threatening, post-American environment. "

The entire column is definitely worth reading as it elucidates a viewpoint that is different than how Americans, though equally dismayed, see the Obama European tour.

As for what America's enemies are thinking, we do not know for sure. And we are unlikely to find out via civilized means such as the press or blogs. If we do find out, the knowledge will come more suddenly and violently, as an exploitation of the percieved weakness of American leadership.

I fear for my country. I fear for the world.

G-d save the United States of America.

Maggid: Justice Delayed and Justice Denied . . .

Last night we celebrated the First Seder at our house.
We were eleven people strong.
We were, as Exodus recounts it, "with our young and with our old," with fellow Jews and with "the strangers that dwell amongst us."

Once again, we lit the festival candles and recited the kiddush--the sanctification of the day:
" . . . For you have given to us with love festivals for rejoicing, seasons of celebration, this festival of Matzot, zeman kheruteinu--season of our freedom--in memory of our going out from Egypt . . ."

Once again, we dipped our parsley, broke the middle matzah, and spilled out ten drops for the plagues upon Egypt. Once again, we participated in the Maggid, the Telling of when we came forth from Egypt.

And once again, as I opened the Baskin Haggadah, certain words and certain phrases fairly leapt off the page and into my consciousness; words that I had read time and again, but this year I heard them in the context of the time and the season. Different words and phrases do this each year, and each year it as if I am hearing the Haggadah for the first time.

This year it happened when we came to these words:
"Our rabbis taught: When the Egyptian armies were drowning in the sea, the Heavenly Hosts broke out in songs of jubilation. [The Eternal] silenced them and said: 'My creatures are perishing and you sing praises?'

"Though we descend from those redeemed from brutal Egypt,
and have ourselves rejoiced to see oppressors overcome,
yet our triumph is diminished by the slaughter of the foe,
as the wine within the cup of joy is lessened
when we pour ten drops for the plagues upon Egypt.

"Our rabbis taught: 'The sword comes into the world because of justice delayed and justice denied' . . . To remember upheaval that follows oppression we pour ten drops for the plagues upon Egypt . . ."
(Central Conference of American Rabbis [1994]. A Passover Haggadah [a.k.a.the Baskin Haggadah], Revised Edition. Drawings by Leonard Baskin. New York. pp. 48-49)

The Hebrew letters of these words turned to flame, dancing off the page towards my eyes as we read them. Earlier in the day the Boychick and I had heard the story of the Lone Survivor, Marcus Luttrell, and his dog, Dasy. We had learned that this Navy Seal, who had survived a terrible battle and had been captured and tortured by the Tailiban, had received a therapy dog as part of his rehabilitiation. This dog has meant the world to him as he experiences the dark night of the soul that is the inevitable consequence of his brutal encounter with the nexus between life and death. This dog not only meant friendship and unconditional love to Marcus, she also represented the living presence of the souls of his team; each letter of Dasy's name represented the name of one of his lost companions. But late one night last week, four men came to the ranch where Marcus now lives with his mother, and they shot his dog dead. They didn't know Marcus. These psychopaths had been killing dogs in the county just for fun. Marcus ended up holding three of the four men at gunpoint, but he didn't shoot, making him a hero once again. He turned the men over to the Texas Rangers after a high-speed chase across four counties.

This is a haunting story, made more heartbreaking still by Marcus' cri de coeur that in Dasy's death, his friends are lost "all over again." Just before the Seder, I came into my room to find the Boychick and the Chem Geek Princess sitting in front of Shayna's crate, as the Boychick related the story to his sister in his cryptic, halting fashion. So when the words of the Haggadah became fire at this place in the Telling, I stopped and asked the Boychick to tell this story, too, at the Seder.

This story belonged in the Seder this year and at this place in the story because given the means and the motive for revenge, Marcus Luttrell did not exact it upon his enemies. But he needs justice.

He said:
" . . . is there any justice? What has happened to us? Who are these guys? It's like I have been trained my whole life to live honorably and to go out and to get the bad guys, and the bad guys have always been some place else. And now the bad guys come to my house and they shoot my dog, and I have to stop because I'm no longer the guy that can exact justice on the bad guys." (Quoted by Glenn Beck on April 7, 2009 on The Glenn Beck Radio Show).

He said:
"I follow a different set of rules now. I . . . just can't get into that kind of stuff any more. And it's not something worth going to prison over . . . I did what I did (e.g.in Afganistan: EHL) because I love, I love my country . . . You know, the reason I'm out there busting my ass across seas and the rest of that in the military is so that when I come home and someone decides to murder my dog, justice gets done! I mean that's kind of the point, I think. I'm pretty sure it is . . . fightin' for freedom and all that, that's kind of the idea. Now it's out of my hands, you know, they took it away from me, and then the judicial system's takes care of it . . . but not really. One of 'em's not in jail because . . . like I said before, like I said before . . . if there was a human being out there and four guys stepped out and murdered him, they'd all be in prison. She was like a daughter to me! This guy, this idiot says: 'I wasn't a part, I was just there.' Well, ah, you know, you were all laughing. I didn't see you try to get out of the car . . . so, you're lyin'. He's lyin'. I looked at him, you know, I know when people are lyin' to me . . ." (From The Glenn Beck Show, April 8, 2009. My transcription).

The point that goes with the Seder is this: Justice delayed and justice denied will bring the sword. According to the Telling this is what happened in Egypt, and the innocent suffered right along with the guilty.

Here is a man who has suffered unspeakable things so that "justice will get done." He showed great personal restraint in the face of a great injustice that was done to him and his dog. He had the bad guys in his sights, but he didn't shoot. He called the Texas Rangers, he told them that they needed to catch these guys because he was afraid that otherwise he would kill them. And now he is afraid that one of them will get off with just a slap on the wrist; he does not trust that justice will be done.

It is important that justice be done. Justice must prevail in this case and in every case where great harm is done to one person by others.
If justice is not accomplished, then the innocent suffer at the hands of guilty.
Khamas (senseless violence) becomes rampant on the earth. And with the Rule of Law subverted, those who are wronged will take up the sword.

Our rabbis said: "The sword comes into the world because of justice delayed and justice denied."

And upheaval and suffering will inevitably follow.

Our rabbis taught: "The Holy One, Blessed be G-d, is urgent about justice, because the world depends upon justice "

And so the world does. Civilization depends upon Justice and the Rule of Law.
Without these, we slide into mob rule, vigilantism, and barbarism.

As we poured ten drops for the plagues upon Egypt, we poured one more, for the evil, senseless killing of Dasy, and the torment it brought her man. And we pray for Marcus Luttrell: Peace be upon him! Be strong for good! Be strong for what is right! And may we all be strengthened to do justice. Hazak. Hazak. V'nithazek!

Birkat HaChama: Blessing for the Sun

This morning I was up before dawn as per usual on the morning of the night of the first Seder, but this morning was different from all other first Seder mornings.


This morning, as the Boychick and I walked the dogs and watched the sunrise, we added a special blessing to our usual blessing when the sunrises. This is the Birkat HaChama--the Blessing of the Sun. We said:


"ברוך אתה ה' אלהינו מלך העולם עושה מעשה בראשית"
"Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the Universe who makes the works of Creation."


This morning at dawn, tradition tells us, the sun returns to the place in the machzor gadol--the great cycle--the very place at which it was created in space. Thus, according to the Jewish calendar, this occurs on a Tuesday every twenty-eight years. As in all things Jewish, there are minority opinions, and debate.


But it is a beautiful and pleasant custom that makes this Pesach different from all other Pesachim! May we all still be riding the machzor gadol when the day comes to make this blessing again, in 2038! And let us say, Amen!

Zissen Pesach!

Here's to You, Mr. Jefferson . . .

This is too good not to share . . .




And don't forget Mr. Santelli, who hit a nerve and started the Tea Parties.

This seems right in line with the Festival of Freedom! Now I am getting my enthusiasm back.

Pesach Denial

"Why is this night different than all other nights?
Don't ask!"

That's the saying printed on my Pesach Seder night apron.
Wednesday night at sundown, the Passover Seder will commence, and somewhere around 2 A.M. on Thursday morning, Jewish baalabustas ( mistresses of their homes)everywhere will wash the last piece of china, crystal or silver, and give thanks that another Seder was a success.

This year, I have been in what Magpie Ima calls "Pesach Denial." Oh, I have been getting the cleaning done, planning the Seder, but without any real conviction that Pesach is actually coming.

(Picture from the Sarajevo Haggadah)


I have no enthusiasm for the whole thing, and a sense of liberation from the chametz of my life is the furthest thing from my mind.

Is it my lack of energy this spring generally? Am I tired of having Pesach preparations devolve on my 5' 1 and 1/2" frame? Is it the weather? Lingering depression from Zoey's death? My general lack of enthusiam about my neuroimaging class? My health?

So, nu? Whatever it is is, Pesach is three days away, and the work is coming along, but I am not into it. Like the Boychick's special ed coordinator at Machon, I am saying inside: "I just don't want to do it!"

(I have been planning this post since Saturday, but our DSL went down again. This time, I talked to the tech guy they sent out personally, and I hope the problem is permanently resolved).

Ready or not, Pesach is nearly upon us!

Zissen Pesach!

April Fool's Snow

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

When we lived in Albuquerque proper, we would have an April Fool's Day snowstorm once in a while. The biggest was on April Fool's Day/Passover/Good Friday in 1988. Even in the city,we saw 5-8 inches of the white stuff. The next day, Shabbat in Passover, it was warm and sunny, as if the snow had never happened.

In the time we have lived in the high country of the East Mountains, we have seen snow showers into May, and have had significant accumulation well past mid-April. But I have not seen an April Fool's snowfall. Until today . . .

When I got home, the clouds had gathered, and were lowering, and when I got the dogs inside, the snowfall commenced, shortly before 5 PM.

"April fool!" Mother Nature seemed to exclaim,

but the quality of light and the sky and the soft air

made this snowfall seem like an April shower,

all in white.

The snow fell fast and furious,
and then the storm passed, as
April showers tend to do.

Now, as I write, the sky is clearing, the sun is setting. It looks like spring in the sky, but on the ground is a small reminder of the season just past.

What a pleasant April Fool!