After posting some small ideas on a variety of news and blog articles about the burning Amazon rainforest, I decided it was not enough. I had to take to my blogger and write my thoughts .....I've discovered that there is never enough time or space to really get this type of environmental heartbreak out of my system ..... I am hoping that the words I put down here will suffice in some small way .....
After reading scores of articles about the monster Bolsonaro and what he is doing to the Amazon and how it is affecting the global environment, I have decided not to blame him alone. Yes, he is an environmental danger the world has not seen in years. But he is not the only one. Indonesia cleared hundreds of millions of acres of pristine rainforest for their alliance with the palm oil industries within the past 20 years, and all countries are guilty of putting commerce and industry before environmental concerns. So, even though Bolsonaro is creating irreparable damage to the Amazon rainforest, global ecological damage has gone on throughout the world at unprecedented rates for the past 30 or more years.
What really amazes me in all this is the lack of a concerted global organization and bank that addresses these environmental issues in the first place. We are now, and have been for more than two decades, in the digital age, connecting nations and national leaders instantaneously via any number of distance/virtual platforms. We all might as well be living in the same apartment housing complex for the availability we now have to each other. And because of this global availability we have to each other now, I can't understand why there has been no global effort to create an international globally owned piece of Earth that can serve to perpetuate this planet. In other words, why hasn't the global leadership come together to actually purchase an area, or areas, of this planet that is hand off to any commercial interests, will serve as ecological and environmental purposes only, and is jointly owned by all countries, leaving crucial natural resources in the sole ownership of no one leader, one country, or one continent. In my mind, something like this is long overdue.
There has to be a way, on this beautiful blue planet of ours, for a global undertaking to purchase land that will be designated completely and totally for the ecological and environmental benefit of Earth. Rainforests can actually be created and expanded, and it is speculated that the civilizations that lived among the Amazon throughout the centuries have added to it's growth (https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/its-now-clear-that-ancient-humans-helped-enrich-the-amazon/518439/). What amazes me as well is that, in addition to the lack of an undertaking such as this, there is little information on the real estate available for purchase for this type of a project. Surely, even our own United States has thousands of acres in the midwest that remain untouched and void of any human activity. And many countries have similar swaths of land that have been abandoned or ignored. The question is would these countries permit a globally owned, operated, and maintained ecological and environmental project to exist within their borders? Sounds too good to be true.
However, an offer such as this might not be so bizarre. Clearly, on every continent and within many countries there are numerous ecological and environmental resources and treasures that, if expanded, could serve as a global ecological and environmental resource. I haven't done much research, if any, into this, but I'm just tossing these thoughts around to come up with a plan that would alleviate dependence on individual countries to preserve their natural resources for the global good. In many ways, although many of these countries are willing to preserve these resources for the global good, all it takes is one leader to sell out and what is crucial for the planet becomes their own personal playground. We can no longer tolerate our essential global resources such vulnerability. The leaders of Indonesia in selling out to the global palm oil industries are no better than this Brazilian President Bolsonaro setting the Amazon ablaze - these precious global treasures are subject to the whims of the countries they dwell in, and that is something the global community can no longer permit.
I don't know who will be reading this, or if it will affect anyone who does, but somewhere the conversation has to begin about global responsibility for our own global environmental and ecological health, and not in terms of global warming or any other politically charged topic. Simply what is good for our global health. We can no longer permit individual countries the responsibility of protecting valuable global resources, especially when it is possible to actually create these types of environments on an internationally coordinated scale. Land must be purchased and owned by the global community, trees planted, protection from corporate interests and private industries granted forever, and there you have it ..... a new Amazon or Indonesian rainforest somewhere other than in Brazil or Indonesia, owned, managed, and sustained by the greater global village. And it will take a global village to save this planet. But we're all here already, seconds away from each other on Zoom or Skype or any other digital platform connecting all of us.
And if this seems too far fetched or we want to do something now ..... why not buy the Amazon from Brazil? ..... I am sure that a few dozen countries can chip in and actually make Bolsonaro an offer he can't refuse ..... the international community is more powerful than we know ..... and we have an awfully awesome and capable global village ....💖
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Pearlie, my service cat by default
There comes a time, maybe it’s due to getting older, I’m not
sure, but there is that time when we simply have to accept our defects, they
are so glaring. And, instead of trying to hide them inside of our passions or
passionate ideologies, we have no choice but to realize, yes, I do this. Maybe because
they are sort of mild I can accept them, or maybe because I share their
acknowledgment with most of my family and even my pets, they have become an
integral part of who I am, and without them, I would not be me. And I’m not
even talking about any nasty habits that seriously affect the other members of
my family, like smoking or spraying scents around the room that some of my kids
are allergic to. I don’t do these things, so I am not on that particular tract of
causing unnecessary harm. But I do other things, and my cat Pearl has let me
know she is well aware of it.
I have this unusual habit of walking out of the kitchen or
the bathroom when the water in the sink is still running. I have had this
tendency for years. My kids and others in my family who have noticed this are
never hesitant to reprimand me in a very kind but exasperated way that, once
again, I have left the water running. It’s not a harmful type of a thing – I’m
not going to set the house on fire with this and most of the time the water is
running into an empty sink, so I won’t cause a flood, but it is just a reminder
of a negligence, and where you have one negligence, there can be others. It may
be a sign.
So, thankful to say, I am trying to keep myself abreast of
this and remember to turn off the water after I use it, both in the kitchen and
the bathroom. In addition to wasting this precious national resource, I most
definitely increased my water bill upwards of tens of dollars, something I hardly
can afford to do, and it is all a waste. Years ago, I left the water running
and left for work, a 9 hour stretch until I again got home. You can only
imagine the expense and waste of that. Thank G-d, the water ran continuously
down the sink and there were no blockages.
And then there’s Pearlie, my tiny fluffy ball of love that I
have had since 2006 when she was born from a stray in my yard … she looks like
a pearl … white with grey swirls of fluffy fur …. And pink ears …. Her lineage
must have Siamese, because she looks so much like a Siamese cat except for her
chubby round face.
Pearlie has been with me for over 10 years, and she knows
everything that goes on around the house. She is strictly a house cat. I once
tried to let her out only to discover an enormous welt over her eye – she almost
lost that eye from being attacked by another street cat – so that ended me
letting her out, and in the house she has stayed since, over the past 9 years
or so now.
So it is not by surprise – although it was a tremendous
surprise to me when it happened – that Pearlie would be aware and alert to my defects,
particularly this running water issue. And it happened just last week that I was
washing dishes with my usual cold water (I am grateful that my water issue
doesn’t increase my hot water bill – I only use cold water for everything
except when I take a shower ) in the kitchen sink and my phone rang in the
other room. Loyal to my water issue, I simply walked away from the sink,
unaware that the water was still running.
The phone conversation took me into the living room and then
into one of the bed rooms and onto my computer, where I had to look up
something and it was quite a while until I was able to stop. What actually
caught my attention was Pearlie, making unusually distressing noises from the
kitchen. All of my cats have their own noises and ways they call me, and Pearl
makes this particular noise when she has used the litter box and is alerting me
to clean it, and also when she has caught a palmetto or water bug or a gecko
and is calling me to come and look (I love gecko’s, and usually rush very
quickly to see if I could save it from her …usually she has not done much harm
and is in the early stages of attacking it and is calling me to see what she
caught – if it has not been harmed, I quickly grab it and set it outside to reclaim
the rest of its life). But this day when I was on the computer after my phone
call, Pearlie was making this noise and I thought she might have caught a gecko
so I was very quick to come and see ….
And she was simply sitting in front of my kitchen sink,
making this distressing urgent type of noise …. She caught nothing …. She was
simply letting me know that I left the water running …..
I cannot describe the feeling I have of gratitude to these
tiny creatures that really do look over us. Even when we feel we are so
advanced and capable, they are there to fill the void, to correct the hidden
and embarrassing flaws. It is amazing to me how they cover for us.
Over the years, I have given myself credit continuously for
things that I consider remarkable – even to the point of haughtiness. At 61, I still
mow my own lawn in the Florida heat and work completely online as a registrar for
a virtual college, something that many of my friends of this age cannot even
fathom to do. Even mowing my own lawn and creating butterfly gardens, spending
hours in the yard in the Florida heat scares even my own adult children. I now
live by myself with my cats and a rescue chicken and manage to keep my house in
one piece – and keep myself functioning as well. And then I have additional
private victories that I have become so arrogant about, personal
accomplishments to gloat on - even in private. But all this self adulation just
crumbles when your tiny cat calls to you from the kitchen that you left your
sink water running. How fantastic is that? How truly helpless am I without something
like this?
Of all the things I am passionate about, protecting animals
probably tops the list. Not only because we have such a remarkable mitzvah in
our Holy Torah not to harm animals, but because so often they are our helpers, sent
from HaShem. I used to think that that saying ‘G-d couldn’t be everywhere, so He
created mothers’ was very true, but now I realize that mothers cannot even hold
a candle to some of these remarkable creatures He created to help us. When we
least expect it, we are given creatures that befriend and care for us, even unaware.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Our Mitzvos Could Save The World .....
One of the reasons I find blogging so satisfying is that I have so much to say, but I cannot speak in public. I have tried. I have a teacher's license and have reduced myself to being a tutor because I cannot speak to more than about one person at a time. But I love to write, so blogging pretty much comes naturally.
Because I have become religious from a non-religious background, I have lived a great portion of my life very differently from the way I live now. Currently, and for the past almost 30 years, I have taken on many of the mitzvos of observant Judaism. I keep kosher and will not eat from a non-kosher kitchen. This causes me to have to reject my many invitations for meals from almost all of my relatives who do not have kosher kitchens. It is very painful. I also keep Shabbos, from Friday just before sundown to Saturday evening one hour after sundown. This has secluded me from many family occasions, as I do not drive or visit people who do not keep Shabbos on Shabbos. Painful, again.
Plus, I married a man who didn't want to be as observant as I did, and, after two attempts at sustaining married life, I divorced him for a second time. He attends ashrams in the summer in upstate NY and lives a life much more 'liberated' than mine is. Painful again.
However, there is an entire community that I live in that is strictly kosher and keeps a very strict Shabbos, so I feel right at home here. However, I live alone, as my children have grown and moved on. I am considering moving to a location where there are more single older Jews like myself. However, many might not be as observant. Such is the Jewish world.
One thing I have observed about Jews since becoming observant more than 30 years ago is that Jews don't push Judaism on non-Jews. They hardly push observance on their own. In a sentence, Jews keep their religion to themselves, which is really refreshing at this time in history where every headline reeks of every atrocity imaginable in the name of religion. Yet I am trying to come to terms with the idea that we are such an introverted, internal religion. Would the world be a better place if we proselytized our mitzvot and broadcasted our davening for all to see? If we threatened injury or worse if everyone didn't keep kosher? or shabbos? or wear tznius? or speak loshon hatov (nice speech and words)? Might we be neglecting some sort of Tikkun olam by keeping all this to ourselves?
Hands down, I feel the Jewish religion via the Torah is the best religion in the world. I contains the most sensitive and authentic form of both social and individual justice around. I demands kindness to animals and nature and love for each other. It permits non-Jews the highest level of respect as long as they respect our religion and refrain from influencing Jews to abandon our mitzvot. And, most of all, it reveals G-d's tremendous love for his creatures and his creation, our world and everything in it. The mitzvot regarding how to treat and care for animals, trees, the soil, other people's things, and each other dwarfs any doctrine, secular or religious, that has come from any other people since the beginning of time. I have read the entire Torah numerous times, and the only people who criticize the Torah, in my mind, are people who have never read it.
Oddly enough, our mitzvos might have become the best kept secret in the world, as well. I don't quite know the reason behind our prohibition against proselytizing, but I know that it is such a strong phenomenon that Jews have slowly become the smallest nation in the world. Orthodox Jews are instructed to reject potential converts three times, and if their resolve to join the Jewish nation is so strong after these three rejections, we have to (albeit reluctantly) let them in.
I am starting to wonder if our self-imposed religious seclusion is healthy, or even good. In a world where the two largest religious have very cunning and seriously painful tactics to get others to join their ranks, observant Jews simply avoid those who are not part of their group. In a religious sense, Jews have embodied the 'lamb among wolves' persona .... we haven't a clue of how huge and dangerous these other religions are. We are simply incapable of joining in the competition.
In so many ways, I feel truly grateful and blessed not to belong to one of those camps who believe 'might is right' or that I won't get to heaven unless I accept their version of g-d. I am grateful that I don't belong to a religion that has to bully others to prove they are right. But on the other hand, Jews are dwindling. We are losing ground and even the majority of our own people cannot fully identify their own identity. If the mitzvot identify Judaism, as they have for previous generations, how can a non-observant Jew identify as Jewish? This was a question I had for years prior to becoming observant. I still don't think I would have an answer had I not become observant.
I believe in G-d, the Jewish Torah version of G-d. A G-d that has created a fantastic world. An awesome world from a thoroughly awesome Creator. Someone who created the most magnificent forms of life, from caterpillars to butterflies, from earthworms to elephants. This is a thoroughly fantastic awesome world, and G-d created all of it. And He wrote in his Torah that He wants us to respect it, and care properly for it. G-d is, and was, the original environmentalist. It is His planet. He does not want us to trash it. It's all in the Torah.
And I think that, because Jews are so inclusive and seclusive, and private, we have not revealed these truths. Not that we should, but it would help the world to know that we have a G-d that does not want us to take down fruit trees, or plant the nutrients out of the soil without giving it a rest, or live in cities without proper sewage disposal. We have a G-d that has instructed us to uphold the poor through donations and concerted efforts to help them support themselves. We have a G-d that wants the world to work, and wants people to make that happen.
As things are now, we have a world where no one would listen, because more and more people hate Jews and hate our religion. Even the majority of Jews are afraid of their own religion. Judaism remains the best kept secret ever. It is a hidden treasure and formula that could easily save the world.
It's just my thoughts, by Yoheved.
Because I have become religious from a non-religious background, I have lived a great portion of my life very differently from the way I live now. Currently, and for the past almost 30 years, I have taken on many of the mitzvos of observant Judaism. I keep kosher and will not eat from a non-kosher kitchen. This causes me to have to reject my many invitations for meals from almost all of my relatives who do not have kosher kitchens. It is very painful. I also keep Shabbos, from Friday just before sundown to Saturday evening one hour after sundown. This has secluded me from many family occasions, as I do not drive or visit people who do not keep Shabbos on Shabbos. Painful, again.
Plus, I married a man who didn't want to be as observant as I did, and, after two attempts at sustaining married life, I divorced him for a second time. He attends ashrams in the summer in upstate NY and lives a life much more 'liberated' than mine is. Painful again.
However, there is an entire community that I live in that is strictly kosher and keeps a very strict Shabbos, so I feel right at home here. However, I live alone, as my children have grown and moved on. I am considering moving to a location where there are more single older Jews like myself. However, many might not be as observant. Such is the Jewish world.
One thing I have observed about Jews since becoming observant more than 30 years ago is that Jews don't push Judaism on non-Jews. They hardly push observance on their own. In a sentence, Jews keep their religion to themselves, which is really refreshing at this time in history where every headline reeks of every atrocity imaginable in the name of religion. Yet I am trying to come to terms with the idea that we are such an introverted, internal religion. Would the world be a better place if we proselytized our mitzvot and broadcasted our davening for all to see? If we threatened injury or worse if everyone didn't keep kosher? or shabbos? or wear tznius? or speak loshon hatov (nice speech and words)? Might we be neglecting some sort of Tikkun olam by keeping all this to ourselves?
Hands down, I feel the Jewish religion via the Torah is the best religion in the world. I contains the most sensitive and authentic form of both social and individual justice around. I demands kindness to animals and nature and love for each other. It permits non-Jews the highest level of respect as long as they respect our religion and refrain from influencing Jews to abandon our mitzvot. And, most of all, it reveals G-d's tremendous love for his creatures and his creation, our world and everything in it. The mitzvot regarding how to treat and care for animals, trees, the soil, other people's things, and each other dwarfs any doctrine, secular or religious, that has come from any other people since the beginning of time. I have read the entire Torah numerous times, and the only people who criticize the Torah, in my mind, are people who have never read it.
Oddly enough, our mitzvos might have become the best kept secret in the world, as well. I don't quite know the reason behind our prohibition against proselytizing, but I know that it is such a strong phenomenon that Jews have slowly become the smallest nation in the world. Orthodox Jews are instructed to reject potential converts three times, and if their resolve to join the Jewish nation is so strong after these three rejections, we have to (albeit reluctantly) let them in.
I am starting to wonder if our self-imposed religious seclusion is healthy, or even good. In a world where the two largest religious have very cunning and seriously painful tactics to get others to join their ranks, observant Jews simply avoid those who are not part of their group. In a religious sense, Jews have embodied the 'lamb among wolves' persona .... we haven't a clue of how huge and dangerous these other religions are. We are simply incapable of joining in the competition.
In so many ways, I feel truly grateful and blessed not to belong to one of those camps who believe 'might is right' or that I won't get to heaven unless I accept their version of g-d. I am grateful that I don't belong to a religion that has to bully others to prove they are right. But on the other hand, Jews are dwindling. We are losing ground and even the majority of our own people cannot fully identify their own identity. If the mitzvot identify Judaism, as they have for previous generations, how can a non-observant Jew identify as Jewish? This was a question I had for years prior to becoming observant. I still don't think I would have an answer had I not become observant.
I believe in G-d, the Jewish Torah version of G-d. A G-d that has created a fantastic world. An awesome world from a thoroughly awesome Creator. Someone who created the most magnificent forms of life, from caterpillars to butterflies, from earthworms to elephants. This is a thoroughly fantastic awesome world, and G-d created all of it. And He wrote in his Torah that He wants us to respect it, and care properly for it. G-d is, and was, the original environmentalist. It is His planet. He does not want us to trash it. It's all in the Torah.
And I think that, because Jews are so inclusive and seclusive, and private, we have not revealed these truths. Not that we should, but it would help the world to know that we have a G-d that does not want us to take down fruit trees, or plant the nutrients out of the soil without giving it a rest, or live in cities without proper sewage disposal. We have a G-d that has instructed us to uphold the poor through donations and concerted efforts to help them support themselves. We have a G-d that wants the world to work, and wants people to make that happen.
As things are now, we have a world where no one would listen, because more and more people hate Jews and hate our religion. Even the majority of Jews are afraid of their own religion. Judaism remains the best kept secret ever. It is a hidden treasure and formula that could easily save the world.
It's just my thoughts, by Yoheved.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Yeshiva Student History 101 – who are the Israeli yeshiva students and why should we care
In many ways, I am grateful to have this blog. Not that anyone notices or even reads it, or even takes my writing into consideration. But for me, it is a blessing, namely because I often cannot think clearly until I write. My thoughts follow my writing. It sounds strange, but that is how it is. It’s been that way all my life.
So, today I welcome the opportunity to write about something that actually had me in tears yesterday. On Facebook, I had an interaction with a middle aged woman who had moved to Israel from the United States. She claimed to be Jewish. She knew a lot about the Jewish religion and responded to my post regarding various halachas, of which she was quite knowledgeable. For all intensive purposes, she had blended in with Israeli society perfectly, and was in love, rightfully so, with her decision to make aliyah. She loved Israel and was thrilled to be finally living there. What shocked me to the core was her volatile hatred of the Hareidi, who she considered ‘hiding in their yeshivas, taking up nothing more than space and air, and having no contributions whatsoever to society’.
Because of my conversation with this woman, I now realize how deeply ingrained the hatred and disrespect of the Hareidi is in Israeli society. It is as normal and commonplace as riding on the bus or taking a taxi; as ordinary as shopping in one of the many shuqs throughout the cities. Or rather, as I once heard said with reference to another very sad situation, as 'common as maggots on a corpse’.
So, with all this in mind, I return to my blog, which has become for me a kind of refuge, where I can sort out fact from fiction, do my own personal research, and present my findings. It is a place where I can defend the abused, support the victims. It is a place I can present their story, if only someone will listen.
Much of my interest in the Israeli Hareidi began when my son went to yeshiva in Israel in 2008. Only 19 years old, he was already a serious consumer of organic foods, and was reluctant to eat much else. I was terrified he would starve. That, coupled with the fact that he was diagnosed with mono as soon as he got off the plane, I embarked on a frantic search for organic produce in Israel, and specifically from sources that were willing to deliver to his yeshiva.
My search yielded organic farms that not only delivered to his yeshiva, but were involved in the hundreds of soup kitchens and free ‘restaurants’ sprinkled throughout Israel. Most of these places were visited by the Hareidi.
...in fact, I discovered that kollel families made up more than 60% of all people living below the poverty level in Israel....
When my second son went to Israel to a specifically Hareidi yeshiva in 2009, the picture of struggling Hareidi became even clearer, as my boys would report back to me the conditions of the families they usually were invited to on Shabbos …. Warm, welcoming, and many very, very poor …
In an epic report titled 'The Road Back From Utopia’ by Joel Rebibo (2001, on the web at http://www.azure.org.il/download/magazine/1329az_11_rebibo.pdf ) this extreme poverty and deprivation is disproportionately represented among yeshiva students and their families throughout Israel. It also reeks of religious persecution disguised as military protocol. I was horrified by the flagrant violations in basic human rights that Mr. Rebibo’s article revealed.
It actually turns out that the chronic unemployment among Israeli kollel students is a unique Israeli creation ... one that was actually forced upon them by the Israeli government itself.
From almost the beginning of the creation of the state, the Hareidi have had problems with the military; they refuse to enlist for religious reasons. Because of this, they have been denied the ability to receive work permits and to attend institutes of higher learning, such as college, university, or technical programs. The denial of these basic human rights has been going on for decades. Although this situation might be seen as Israel's attempt to punish Jews who simply don't serve in the military, it would most definitely be better classified as a unique type of Jew-on-Jew religious persecution.
While it could be argued that countries have a right to punish those refusing military service as how they see fit, this removal of the basic human right to work, make a living wage, or attend institutions of higher learning has overwhelmingly been targeted at the Hareidi to the exclusion of all others. In other words, they are the only group being treated this way. It has resulted in multi-generational poverty and a horrific contempt and hatred by the less religious Israeli Jews.
I remember in August reading about the venomous outcry against the Hareidi by the college students of Bar Ilan protesting the small increase in state funding that the Hareidi were scheduled to get, accusing the Hareidi of being parasitic on Israel in general and specifically depriving university students additional funding for school.
Few Israelis realize that the Hareidi’s financial dependence on the state, coupled with rampant unemployment, was the creation of their very own military policy, which mandates the removal of work and school permits for Jews in exchange for army exemption.
In a corruption of its original intent, the Hareidim who reject this mandatory military service based on religious observance, do not merely replace it with a life of dedicated torah study…. it is simultaneously replaced with the forced inertia and poverty of a people who have been legally denied the G-d given right to work and make a living or go to school ...
Although written in 2001, Mr. Rebibo's findings are still relevant today.... the following excerpts have been taken from his article:
"...In the early days of the state, a settlement was reached between David Ben-Gurion and the leadership of the Hareidi community, according to which yeshiva students would be exempt from army duty so long as they were engaged in full-time study. Students who declared that 'their Tora is their trade' (toratam umnutam) could continue to defer their enlistment indefinitely, but would be prohibited from engaging in activities other than Tora study - including teaching or even volunteer work - without first serving in the army...
".......What began as a group of approximately 400 students exempt from army duty at the founding of the state had grown by 1980 to around 10,000, and by 1999 had blossomed into a corps of over 30,000 men who were exempt from service, a number that continues to grow by about one thousand each year. These men, dedicated to full-time Tora study, are also bound to it by the threat of immediate conscription should they attempt to enter the workforce....
".....This fact alone constitutes one of the most significant differences between the American and Israeli communities: While an American Hareidi youth is free to pursue college or vocational training without the worry of being drafted, his Israeli counterpart must remain in yeshiva or face months or years in an army environment that is, in his view, hostile to his way of life. .... The threat of army service, in the words of Justice Tal, 'imprisons' Hareidim in their yeshivot....."
I live in a Jewish community in the United States. Both I and my children have been privileged over the years to know dedicated yeshiva men and their families. Often these men will leave their yeshiva after 4-6 years of continued study to pursue a college degree or open a business. Many of them earn a living or attend college or trade school simultaneously while in yeshiva full time. We had a car mechanic in Brooklyn who learned all day and did house calls in the evenings to maintain the cars of numerous clients. I also remember buying Jewish tapes from a friend's husband who sold Judaica from their home after learning all day in kollel. The income from these small businesses went a long way towards helping with family expenses.
...The innovation and creativity of these kollel students is remarkable. Yet as naturally innovative and resourceful as these kollel students are throughout the Diaspora, this added income cannot happen in Israel...it is against the law.....
Also in Mr. Rebibo's article is the following:
"...As poverty deepens and the dependent Hareidi population expands, the politicians of the religious parties press for more social spending that will benefit them …. fanning what Menachem Friedman terms the 'awesome hatred of Hareidim' among the general public......"
I discovered just how pervasive this awesome hatred of Hareidim was only yesterday on Facebook. It was my first real exposure, up close, to such a horrible, frightening thing…
To me, this is the most disturbing.....first to discover that the chronic unemployment and forced poverty of the Israeli Hareidim is a unique Israeli creation....and then to discover the intense hatred the Hareidi endure.
This is religious racism…in the raw … as well as the financial and educational deprivation and abuse that comes with it.
In terms of human rights, this scenario fits directly into the basic human rights issues now heralded throughout the world ... the right to a higher education, the right to financial independence, to make a living ….. the right to reject military service based on religious observance ….. it all sounds too familiar..…
Here in America, my religious Jewish community loves our yeshiva students.. thank G-d …..They are the pride and joy of our entire Jewish nation. The severe financial and educational deprivation, animosity and unbridled hatred in Israel towards our holy keepers of Torah is nothing short of heartbreaking.
Until next time...G-d bless you and yours with Torah and everything good.....
So, today I welcome the opportunity to write about something that actually had me in tears yesterday. On Facebook, I had an interaction with a middle aged woman who had moved to Israel from the United States. She claimed to be Jewish. She knew a lot about the Jewish religion and responded to my post regarding various halachas, of which she was quite knowledgeable. For all intensive purposes, she had blended in with Israeli society perfectly, and was in love, rightfully so, with her decision to make aliyah. She loved Israel and was thrilled to be finally living there. What shocked me to the core was her volatile hatred of the Hareidi, who she considered ‘hiding in their yeshivas, taking up nothing more than space and air, and having no contributions whatsoever to society’.
Because of my conversation with this woman, I now realize how deeply ingrained the hatred and disrespect of the Hareidi is in Israeli society. It is as normal and commonplace as riding on the bus or taking a taxi; as ordinary as shopping in one of the many shuqs throughout the cities. Or rather, as I once heard said with reference to another very sad situation, as 'common as maggots on a corpse’.
So, with all this in mind, I return to my blog, which has become for me a kind of refuge, where I can sort out fact from fiction, do my own personal research, and present my findings. It is a place where I can defend the abused, support the victims. It is a place I can present their story, if only someone will listen.
Much of my interest in the Israeli Hareidi began when my son went to yeshiva in Israel in 2008. Only 19 years old, he was already a serious consumer of organic foods, and was reluctant to eat much else. I was terrified he would starve. That, coupled with the fact that he was diagnosed with mono as soon as he got off the plane, I embarked on a frantic search for organic produce in Israel, and specifically from sources that were willing to deliver to his yeshiva.
My search yielded organic farms that not only delivered to his yeshiva, but were involved in the hundreds of soup kitchens and free ‘restaurants’ sprinkled throughout Israel. Most of these places were visited by the Hareidi.
...in fact, I discovered that kollel families made up more than 60% of all people living below the poverty level in Israel....
When my second son went to Israel to a specifically Hareidi yeshiva in 2009, the picture of struggling Hareidi became even clearer, as my boys would report back to me the conditions of the families they usually were invited to on Shabbos …. Warm, welcoming, and many very, very poor …
In an epic report titled 'The Road Back From Utopia’ by Joel Rebibo (2001, on the web at http://www.azure.org.il/download/magazine/1329az_11_rebibo.pdf ) this extreme poverty and deprivation is disproportionately represented among yeshiva students and their families throughout Israel. It also reeks of religious persecution disguised as military protocol. I was horrified by the flagrant violations in basic human rights that Mr. Rebibo’s article revealed.
It actually turns out that the chronic unemployment among Israeli kollel students is a unique Israeli creation ... one that was actually forced upon them by the Israeli government itself.
From almost the beginning of the creation of the state, the Hareidi have had problems with the military; they refuse to enlist for religious reasons. Because of this, they have been denied the ability to receive work permits and to attend institutes of higher learning, such as college, university, or technical programs. The denial of these basic human rights has been going on for decades. Although this situation might be seen as Israel's attempt to punish Jews who simply don't serve in the military, it would most definitely be better classified as a unique type of Jew-on-Jew religious persecution.
While it could be argued that countries have a right to punish those refusing military service as how they see fit, this removal of the basic human right to work, make a living wage, or attend institutions of higher learning has overwhelmingly been targeted at the Hareidi to the exclusion of all others. In other words, they are the only group being treated this way. It has resulted in multi-generational poverty and a horrific contempt and hatred by the less religious Israeli Jews.
I remember in August reading about the venomous outcry against the Hareidi by the college students of Bar Ilan protesting the small increase in state funding that the Hareidi were scheduled to get, accusing the Hareidi of being parasitic on Israel in general and specifically depriving university students additional funding for school.
Few Israelis realize that the Hareidi’s financial dependence on the state, coupled with rampant unemployment, was the creation of their very own military policy, which mandates the removal of work and school permits for Jews in exchange for army exemption.
In a corruption of its original intent, the Hareidim who reject this mandatory military service based on religious observance, do not merely replace it with a life of dedicated torah study…. it is simultaneously replaced with the forced inertia and poverty of a people who have been legally denied the G-d given right to work and make a living or go to school ...
Although written in 2001, Mr. Rebibo's findings are still relevant today.... the following excerpts have been taken from his article:
"...In the early days of the state, a settlement was reached between David Ben-Gurion and the leadership of the Hareidi community, according to which yeshiva students would be exempt from army duty so long as they were engaged in full-time study. Students who declared that 'their Tora is their trade' (toratam umnutam) could continue to defer their enlistment indefinitely, but would be prohibited from engaging in activities other than Tora study - including teaching or even volunteer work - without first serving in the army...
".......What began as a group of approximately 400 students exempt from army duty at the founding of the state had grown by 1980 to around 10,000, and by 1999 had blossomed into a corps of over 30,000 men who were exempt from service, a number that continues to grow by about one thousand each year. These men, dedicated to full-time Tora study, are also bound to it by the threat of immediate conscription should they attempt to enter the workforce....
".....This fact alone constitutes one of the most significant differences between the American and Israeli communities: While an American Hareidi youth is free to pursue college or vocational training without the worry of being drafted, his Israeli counterpart must remain in yeshiva or face months or years in an army environment that is, in his view, hostile to his way of life. .... The threat of army service, in the words of Justice Tal, 'imprisons' Hareidim in their yeshivot....."
I live in a Jewish community in the United States. Both I and my children have been privileged over the years to know dedicated yeshiva men and their families. Often these men will leave their yeshiva after 4-6 years of continued study to pursue a college degree or open a business. Many of them earn a living or attend college or trade school simultaneously while in yeshiva full time. We had a car mechanic in Brooklyn who learned all day and did house calls in the evenings to maintain the cars of numerous clients. I also remember buying Jewish tapes from a friend's husband who sold Judaica from their home after learning all day in kollel. The income from these small businesses went a long way towards helping with family expenses.
...The innovation and creativity of these kollel students is remarkable. Yet as naturally innovative and resourceful as these kollel students are throughout the Diaspora, this added income cannot happen in Israel...it is against the law.....
Also in Mr. Rebibo's article is the following:
"...As poverty deepens and the dependent Hareidi population expands, the politicians of the religious parties press for more social spending that will benefit them …. fanning what Menachem Friedman terms the 'awesome hatred of Hareidim' among the general public......"
I discovered just how pervasive this awesome hatred of Hareidim was only yesterday on Facebook. It was my first real exposure, up close, to such a horrible, frightening thing…
To me, this is the most disturbing.....first to discover that the chronic unemployment and forced poverty of the Israeli Hareidim is a unique Israeli creation....and then to discover the intense hatred the Hareidi endure.
This is religious racism…in the raw … as well as the financial and educational deprivation and abuse that comes with it.
In terms of human rights, this scenario fits directly into the basic human rights issues now heralded throughout the world ... the right to a higher education, the right to financial independence, to make a living ….. the right to reject military service based on religious observance ….. it all sounds too familiar..…
Here in America, my religious Jewish community loves our yeshiva students.. thank G-d …..They are the pride and joy of our entire Jewish nation. The severe financial and educational deprivation, animosity and unbridled hatred in Israel towards our holy keepers of Torah is nothing short of heartbreaking.
Until next time...G-d bless you and yours with Torah and everything good.....
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Dear Mr. President Obama: my thoughts on why the Palestinian people are not really interested in creating a friendly and democratic Palestinian State…
Dear Mr. President Obama,
Like millions of others, I have a blog. Not very popular. Rarely seen. No comments so far. But I have to write this. I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t.
You don’t know me. I am a middle aged single mom here in Florida. My children are almost all grown. I have glaucoma. I have returned to college and am nearly finished with a Bachelors of Science in Public Health degree. I have recently created an organic tree and plant nursery, Leaf Mulch Lady (http://www.leafmulchlady.com/ ). After many years of being underemployed as a secretary and assistant teacher in a pre–school, I have taken to selling my organically grown plants and trees in local Farmers Markets. I love this work. It is easy on the eyes, although it brings in hardly any money. And, might I add, I am an American Jew, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, transplanted to Florida in 1994.
Every struggling people should have a state. It is global human courtesy to see to it that every struggling and oppressed people create their own peoplehood – safe from exploitative regimes and financial defeat. A nation that can determine its own fate, care for its own people, and defend itself against enemies is the goal of all people worldwide. It was the goal and accomplishment of America. It was the goal and accomplishment of countries such as Israel, Rwanda, and now the Palestinian People.
In your heart of hearts, you know you would be doing the right human rights thing to push for and grant the Palestinians their own land, their own national recognition and status on the global stage. Not only you, but countless others who believe in human rights and the benefits of self government. It is what all civilized nations, worldwide, want to share with fledgling cohesive groups of people: the ability to call themselves a nation: to have their own place in the world, their own land.
The Palestinian people are an ancient and intelligent people. They have shown the world that they are fearless. They believe in the doctrine of the Jihad, and hence are little moved by their own destruction for the greater good. They believe in suicide missions. They are willing to sacrifice themselves for what they want most.
This unyielding desire is the destruction, actually the annihilation, of the Jewish state, Israel. Their determination in this is well publicized in current agendas and has been the goal of the PLO during Yasser Arafat’s rein. Multiple times they vowed to ‘run the Israeli’s into the sea’ and that was the most mild of their threats. They are determined, particularly under Hamas and Hezbollah, to finish the work that Arafat had vowed. It has always been just a matter of time.
That matter of time has now come in the form of two friends, Iran and Syria. Iran is not as fearless as Hamas. Syria is more reserved and self-protective than Hezbollah. These two ancient civilizations would like to hold on to their lives. They are a cautious people, regardless of the ranting of their dictators. Jews know that they are not about to risk everything to disable and destroy Israel. But they know that their Palestinian friends will, and are.
Possibly the biggest fear for Jews in giving Hamas and Hezbollah national recognition is that they will have the autonomy to begin their long dreamed of work, that being the end of Israel. As the President, you have heard their hate rhetoric and their dismay at having to deal with a Jewish nation in their own backyard. But history dictates that you look back and take their heartfelt desires seriously.
How would you feel if Mexico or Canada voiced similar animosity towards the United States? If you could possibly look into the history of the threats and desires for destruction that the Palestinians, under the PLO and now Hamas and Hezbollah, targeted over the years towards Israel, and apply them to a similar situation between our neighbors and America, you would get chills. To have close neighbors who actively hate you is a very frightening experience. With the vowed military assistance from Iran and Syria these threats and this hatred is destined to become physical if Hamas and Hezbollah become legitimized as a nation.
And why would Iran and Syria arm the Palestinians in Israel? The close proximity of attacking, or even nuking, an Israeli city or community will definitely affect the Palestinian people as well. Isn’t anyone on the Iranian or Syrian front taking the lives of the Palestinian people to heart? Living in such close proximity to each other will only mean that destruction for one is destruction for both.
And that brings us back to the actual meaning of Jihad. In my studies, Jihad means self sacrifice for the greater good. The Palestinian people are willing to go up in smoke if that will bring the end to Israel. It is a mantra and doctrine that is well taught in Gaza and the West Bank and in the pockets of Jordan and Syria where they live. It was the same mantra and doctrine taught to the Jihad pilots who boarded American planes on 9/11.
Being a well meaning and kind person as yourself, you might not understand this. But you cannot talk someone out of their own doctrine, their own passionate mission. You will not be able to talk Hamas and Hezbollah out of this, even if temporarily they don’t come to the table with these thoughts. Even if they are temporarily able to dance to the global tune of peace and supervised harmony between Israel and a newly created Palestine, it will re-emerge with the vengeance of an obsessed martyr once things have quieted down. Syria and Iran will forever be in the background waiting for their time to arm these fearless martyrs of Islam.
So you see, this is not just another fledgling nation waiting to step onto the global stage as a proud and self sustaining people. This is a martyr state, ready to give up their own lives for the destruction of Israel, ready to do the bidding of the greater Jihad doctrine, that being the destruction of Israel at the cost of their own lives.
In other words, ever since the Jews moved into that corner of the globe, it’s been like ‘there goes the neighborhood’… creating an entire Arab and Muslim block is the determination of Jihad and most of the Arab world.
So there you have it. I remain in Florida, but I would really love to move to Israel. I am hoping to go when my children finish college in the states. I am hoping both I and my children can relocate to Israel and live there in peace. I would like to have an organic tree and plant nursery in the north of Israel. I am hoping and praying that the hatred towards Israel from her Arab and Muslim neighbors turns to friendship and peace.
Not that writing this will change anything. I just wanted to let you know how I, a complete nobody from nowhere, just a Jewish plant nursery woman down here in Florida, feel towards this entire scenario. Actually, one of the real benefits of writing this is that now I can sleep.
Thank you again. G-d bless you, America, Israel, and all people, everywhere, who seek peace and pursue it.
Like millions of others, I have a blog. Not very popular. Rarely seen. No comments so far. But I have to write this. I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t.
You don’t know me. I am a middle aged single mom here in Florida. My children are almost all grown. I have glaucoma. I have returned to college and am nearly finished with a Bachelors of Science in Public Health degree. I have recently created an organic tree and plant nursery, Leaf Mulch Lady (http://www.leafmulchlady.com/ ). After many years of being underemployed as a secretary and assistant teacher in a pre–school, I have taken to selling my organically grown plants and trees in local Farmers Markets. I love this work. It is easy on the eyes, although it brings in hardly any money. And, might I add, I am an American Jew, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, transplanted to Florida in 1994.
Every struggling people should have a state. It is global human courtesy to see to it that every struggling and oppressed people create their own peoplehood – safe from exploitative regimes and financial defeat. A nation that can determine its own fate, care for its own people, and defend itself against enemies is the goal of all people worldwide. It was the goal and accomplishment of America. It was the goal and accomplishment of countries such as Israel, Rwanda, and now the Palestinian People.
In your heart of hearts, you know you would be doing the right human rights thing to push for and grant the Palestinians their own land, their own national recognition and status on the global stage. Not only you, but countless others who believe in human rights and the benefits of self government. It is what all civilized nations, worldwide, want to share with fledgling cohesive groups of people: the ability to call themselves a nation: to have their own place in the world, their own land.
The Palestinian people are an ancient and intelligent people. They have shown the world that they are fearless. They believe in the doctrine of the Jihad, and hence are little moved by their own destruction for the greater good. They believe in suicide missions. They are willing to sacrifice themselves for what they want most.
This unyielding desire is the destruction, actually the annihilation, of the Jewish state, Israel. Their determination in this is well publicized in current agendas and has been the goal of the PLO during Yasser Arafat’s rein. Multiple times they vowed to ‘run the Israeli’s into the sea’ and that was the most mild of their threats. They are determined, particularly under Hamas and Hezbollah, to finish the work that Arafat had vowed. It has always been just a matter of time.
That matter of time has now come in the form of two friends, Iran and Syria. Iran is not as fearless as Hamas. Syria is more reserved and self-protective than Hezbollah. These two ancient civilizations would like to hold on to their lives. They are a cautious people, regardless of the ranting of their dictators. Jews know that they are not about to risk everything to disable and destroy Israel. But they know that their Palestinian friends will, and are.
Possibly the biggest fear for Jews in giving Hamas and Hezbollah national recognition is that they will have the autonomy to begin their long dreamed of work, that being the end of Israel. As the President, you have heard their hate rhetoric and their dismay at having to deal with a Jewish nation in their own backyard. But history dictates that you look back and take their heartfelt desires seriously.
How would you feel if Mexico or Canada voiced similar animosity towards the United States? If you could possibly look into the history of the threats and desires for destruction that the Palestinians, under the PLO and now Hamas and Hezbollah, targeted over the years towards Israel, and apply them to a similar situation between our neighbors and America, you would get chills. To have close neighbors who actively hate you is a very frightening experience. With the vowed military assistance from Iran and Syria these threats and this hatred is destined to become physical if Hamas and Hezbollah become legitimized as a nation.
And why would Iran and Syria arm the Palestinians in Israel? The close proximity of attacking, or even nuking, an Israeli city or community will definitely affect the Palestinian people as well. Isn’t anyone on the Iranian or Syrian front taking the lives of the Palestinian people to heart? Living in such close proximity to each other will only mean that destruction for one is destruction for both.
And that brings us back to the actual meaning of Jihad. In my studies, Jihad means self sacrifice for the greater good. The Palestinian people are willing to go up in smoke if that will bring the end to Israel. It is a mantra and doctrine that is well taught in Gaza and the West Bank and in the pockets of Jordan and Syria where they live. It was the same mantra and doctrine taught to the Jihad pilots who boarded American planes on 9/11.
Being a well meaning and kind person as yourself, you might not understand this. But you cannot talk someone out of their own doctrine, their own passionate mission. You will not be able to talk Hamas and Hezbollah out of this, even if temporarily they don’t come to the table with these thoughts. Even if they are temporarily able to dance to the global tune of peace and supervised harmony between Israel and a newly created Palestine, it will re-emerge with the vengeance of an obsessed martyr once things have quieted down. Syria and Iran will forever be in the background waiting for their time to arm these fearless martyrs of Islam.
So you see, this is not just another fledgling nation waiting to step onto the global stage as a proud and self sustaining people. This is a martyr state, ready to give up their own lives for the destruction of Israel, ready to do the bidding of the greater Jihad doctrine, that being the destruction of Israel at the cost of their own lives.
In other words, ever since the Jews moved into that corner of the globe, it’s been like ‘there goes the neighborhood’… creating an entire Arab and Muslim block is the determination of Jihad and most of the Arab world.
So there you have it. I remain in Florida, but I would really love to move to Israel. I am hoping to go when my children finish college in the states. I am hoping both I and my children can relocate to Israel and live there in peace. I would like to have an organic tree and plant nursery in the north of Israel. I am hoping and praying that the hatred towards Israel from her Arab and Muslim neighbors turns to friendship and peace.
Not that writing this will change anything. I just wanted to let you know how I, a complete nobody from nowhere, just a Jewish plant nursery woman down here in Florida, feel towards this entire scenario. Actually, one of the real benefits of writing this is that now I can sleep.
Thank you again. G-d bless you, America, Israel, and all people, everywhere, who seek peace and pursue it.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Confessions of a Reluctant Cat Lady
I decided to lose the political agenda about Israel and Gaza and Gilad Shalit for a time. I couldn’t sleep.
So, I am diverting to an entirely different topic: Cats.
I have cats. That is in the plural. I always knew that dogs had a human heart. Actually, they cling to the human heart, as I’ve been told, as required by their Hebrew name, kelev, which means 'as a heart' or 'like a heart' (http://www.hebrewworld.com/Hebrewdog.html ).
But, since having cats, I have come to believe that cats can actually own your heart. Cats dig deeper. Some cats, that is, such as mine.
Unfortunately, some people are blessed with an unusual ability to connect to animals. I have known, since childhood, that I am one of these. All it takes is a look in the eyes, and I am hooked. And this does not only go for dogs and cats. I have been able to connect, sometimes even momentarily, to fleeting geckos in my yard and house, and butterflies. Once a beautiful monarch butterfly was floating around my head for a few moments, eventually landing on a leaf inches before me. She stayed, eyeing me carefully, for more than a minute (for what reason I don’t know).
And a beautiful fluffy black chicken that we had for about a year. Someone gave Lovey to me when she was a tiny chick, and I (fearing the additives and toxins of conventional chicken feed) raised her on raw organic oatmeal and all the grubs, bugs and worms she could find in my yard. She followed me around like a puppy and came when I called her by her name. She became huge and her feathers were so incredibly soft and fluffy on that oatmeal that even my kids were impressed (“hey, ma, you should sell this stuff … it’s better than all the shampoos out there…”). She was more than twice the size of Mitzi (my only cat at that time) who used to watch her constantly but was scared to pounce. I kept a watchful eye, nonetheless.
We finally gave her to a farm in North Miami. I was afraid that she would fly over the fence and be eaten by my neighbor’s dog (which happened to her sister within the first week I had them). I didn’t have the proper cage for her, and she needed to be able to walk around my yard. It’s over a decade, and I miss her still.
Back to the cats: When we moved to Florida, I lived with my three young children in Miami Beach, and in the backyard of the apartment house there were cats. Lots of cats. Of course, having young kids for me was an invitation to befriend every animal anywhere, and these cats were no exception. To make matters worse, the super of the apartment was a horribly nasty young man who had pit bulls and he liked to watch them kill the cats. I became a (reluctant) animal activist and reported this to the police. Big mistake. One day blood dripped onto my 5 year old son while he played in the yard; a dead cat (courtesy of our super) was strung up in a tree directly above the play area. Wonderful. We moved to a house in North Miami Beach. But I also took Mitzi, a beautiful black and white kitten who used to stay by me when I raked the leaves and tried to plant some flowers in that yard. That was 15 years ago. We have her still.
After taking in two stray dogs and Mitzi between 1994 and 2005, we met Mimi, an emaciated pregnant cat who came to our home about three days before hurricane Wilma. For those of us in North Miami Beach, Wilma was the grand-daddy of all hurricanes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Wilma ). I had two huge 50 year old trees, a beautiful mango and a sapodilla. Wilma flattened them both within seconds. The hurricane took my entire back and front porch and parts of my roof. But somehow during the storm Mimi gave birth in my very small wooden shed, which remained somewhat intact. My son found her after the storm, in the shed with three tiny newborn kittens on a wet leaf mat crawling with worms. We took her and the kittens into the garage.
Those kittens and Mimi took our heart. My children, who in 2005 were 18, 16, and 12, were the perfect age to understand about all things ‘animal’. They were able to relate this to their science lessons from school, but they had never seen this up close in real life. They watched in awe as Mimi cleaned her kittens, played and disciplined them when they got older. It was so beautiful how she took up space in our garage and simply lay on the floor, swishing her tail every so often, her tiny kittens going wild over the sudden movements as if pouncing on a mouse. All G-d’s creatures became a theme in our house. My kids became very spiritual, talking about how beautiful all these creatures were, how perfectly created, even to the point of how perfectly they taught their young. Our awareness of the Divine was intense.
Even though I had spayed my Mitzi, I was reluctant to spay Mimi because she was nursing. I also didn’t want to take her away from her kittens for the full 24 hours required. So my reluctance turned into another pregnancy within three months. And then another pregnancy a few months after that. That is how I became the reluctant cat lady. Leave it up to the incredible ability to proliferate among cats, unaware to me. She got pregnant right before our eyes, again and again. Much to my later regret.
I have cats. That is in the plural. I always knew that dogs had a human heart. Actually, they cling to the human heart, as I’ve been told, as required by their Hebrew name, kelev, which means 'as a heart' or 'like a heart' (http://www.hebrewworld.com/Hebrewdog.html ).
But, since having cats, I have come to believe that cats can actually own your heart. Cats dig deeper. Some cats, that is, such as mine.
Unfortunately, some people are blessed with an unusual ability to connect to animals. I have known, since childhood, that I am one of these. All it takes is a look in the eyes, and I am hooked. And this does not only go for dogs and cats. I have been able to connect, sometimes even momentarily, to fleeting geckos in my yard and house, and butterflies. Once a beautiful monarch butterfly was floating around my head for a few moments, eventually landing on a leaf inches before me. She stayed, eyeing me carefully, for more than a minute (for what reason I don’t know).
And a beautiful fluffy black chicken that we had for about a year. Someone gave Lovey to me when she was a tiny chick, and I (fearing the additives and toxins of conventional chicken feed) raised her on raw organic oatmeal and all the grubs, bugs and worms she could find in my yard. She followed me around like a puppy and came when I called her by her name. She became huge and her feathers were so incredibly soft and fluffy on that oatmeal that even my kids were impressed (“hey, ma, you should sell this stuff … it’s better than all the shampoos out there…”). She was more than twice the size of Mitzi (my only cat at that time) who used to watch her constantly but was scared to pounce. I kept a watchful eye, nonetheless.
We finally gave her to a farm in North Miami. I was afraid that she would fly over the fence and be eaten by my neighbor’s dog (which happened to her sister within the first week I had them). I didn’t have the proper cage for her, and she needed to be able to walk around my yard. It’s over a decade, and I miss her still.
Back to the cats: When we moved to Florida, I lived with my three young children in Miami Beach, and in the backyard of the apartment house there were cats. Lots of cats. Of course, having young kids for me was an invitation to befriend every animal anywhere, and these cats were no exception. To make matters worse, the super of the apartment was a horribly nasty young man who had pit bulls and he liked to watch them kill the cats. I became a (reluctant) animal activist and reported this to the police. Big mistake. One day blood dripped onto my 5 year old son while he played in the yard; a dead cat (courtesy of our super) was strung up in a tree directly above the play area. Wonderful. We moved to a house in North Miami Beach. But I also took Mitzi, a beautiful black and white kitten who used to stay by me when I raked the leaves and tried to plant some flowers in that yard. That was 15 years ago. We have her still.
After taking in two stray dogs and Mitzi between 1994 and 2005, we met Mimi, an emaciated pregnant cat who came to our home about three days before hurricane Wilma. For those of us in North Miami Beach, Wilma was the grand-daddy of all hurricanes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Wilma ). I had two huge 50 year old trees, a beautiful mango and a sapodilla. Wilma flattened them both within seconds. The hurricane took my entire back and front porch and parts of my roof. But somehow during the storm Mimi gave birth in my very small wooden shed, which remained somewhat intact. My son found her after the storm, in the shed with three tiny newborn kittens on a wet leaf mat crawling with worms. We took her and the kittens into the garage.
Those kittens and Mimi took our heart. My children, who in 2005 were 18, 16, and 12, were the perfect age to understand about all things ‘animal’. They were able to relate this to their science lessons from school, but they had never seen this up close in real life. They watched in awe as Mimi cleaned her kittens, played and disciplined them when they got older. It was so beautiful how she took up space in our garage and simply lay on the floor, swishing her tail every so often, her tiny kittens going wild over the sudden movements as if pouncing on a mouse. All G-d’s creatures became a theme in our house. My kids became very spiritual, talking about how beautiful all these creatures were, how perfectly created, even to the point of how perfectly they taught their young. Our awareness of the Divine was intense.
Even though I had spayed my Mitzi, I was reluctant to spay Mimi because she was nursing. I also didn’t want to take her away from her kittens for the full 24 hours required. So my reluctance turned into another pregnancy within three months. And then another pregnancy a few months after that. That is how I became the reluctant cat lady. Leave it up to the incredible ability to proliferate among cats, unaware to me. She got pregnant right before our eyes, again and again. Much to my later regret.
Mimi gave us three kittens her first litter, two her second, and five her third. All within a little more than one year. It doesn’t suffice to say ‘now I know’… I wish I had known before. Live and learn.
Finally, I had to bring in all the cats and kittens to have them neutered and spayed. Thank G-d there is a low cost Planned Pethood in my area, something that I found out about accidentally. Vet costs for spaying and neutering range from $70-$200 for one cat. It’s simply outrageous. A woman I don’t know and haven’t met since told me about Planned Pethood. It probably saved my life.
I don’t believe in shelters that put down healthy animals. I refused to bring the kittens to any of the shelters in Florida because the ones that are no-kill have no room and generally get their animals from the kill shelters. They gave me no choice but to take my cats to the kill shelters and pray that they get adopted or chosen by the no kill shelters within 2 weeks. Slim chance. I said no, they stay with me.
Finally, I had to bring in all the cats and kittens to have them neutered and spayed. Thank G-d there is a low cost Planned Pethood in my area, something that I found out about accidentally. Vet costs for spaying and neutering range from $70-$200 for one cat. It’s simply outrageous. A woman I don’t know and haven’t met since told me about Planned Pethood. It probably saved my life.
I don’t believe in shelters that put down healthy animals. I refused to bring the kittens to any of the shelters in Florida because the ones that are no-kill have no room and generally get their animals from the kill shelters. They gave me no choice but to take my cats to the kill shelters and pray that they get adopted or chosen by the no kill shelters within 2 weeks. Slim chance. I said no, they stay with me.
Over the years, my beautiful orange cat, Max, a kitten from the first litter, disappeared. He was a real macho man, who, even after being neutered, screamed to go out and sprayed in the house. He was gorgeous, long fluffy orange hair, huge green eyes. I still pray that some kind person or family took him in. He was a relentless wanderer, couldn’t be caged.
I gave one of the kittens from the third litter to a technician at Planned Pethood, who was amazed at her deep orange color. She said she was the most beautiful kitten she’d ever seen. Mimi was a beautiful orange, black, and white calico, and all her kittens were beautiful. I was grateful to have found a good home for that deep orange kitten.
Also from the third litter; Velcro, a tiny all black kitten who clung to me for dear life and cried constantly at the door when I didn’t let him in. He and his mom Mimi disappeared the same day. I was frightened it might have been bunchers, or a woman I suspected was a buncher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buncher ). I didn’t sleep well for weeks after they left. I haven’t seen either of them since.
And a completely all white cat with blue eyes. I named him Ice. He was completely obsessed with me. I don’t know how it happens but there are some animals who are on my same wavelength. This gorgeous creature was killed by a car in front of my house while he was running towards me one day when I came outside. My heart has never healed.
So, there you have it. I have become a reluctant cat woman not of my own volition, but because I have found cats irresistible. I now keep four of Mimi’s remaining kittens (now five years old) inside at all times; two additional ones I allow out but they stay close to home; and Mitzi, who is not Mimi’s kitten but was my first. Mitzi is 15 years old now, and I recently noticed she has no teeth. She, too, stays close to home and lives mainly on my enclosed back porch, rebuilt after Hurricane Wilma. Lately she is having a hard time walking and getting up on things. I will have her until the end.
All in all, I have seven cats. I have also begun feeding a tiny stray cat in front of our house. She has beautiful eyes.
Dogs may cling, but cats will steal your heart. And, of course, this can also be said about chickens. Or maybe, it’s just something about me.
I gave one of the kittens from the third litter to a technician at Planned Pethood, who was amazed at her deep orange color. She said she was the most beautiful kitten she’d ever seen. Mimi was a beautiful orange, black, and white calico, and all her kittens were beautiful. I was grateful to have found a good home for that deep orange kitten.
Also from the third litter; Velcro, a tiny all black kitten who clung to me for dear life and cried constantly at the door when I didn’t let him in. He and his mom Mimi disappeared the same day. I was frightened it might have been bunchers, or a woman I suspected was a buncher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buncher ). I didn’t sleep well for weeks after they left. I haven’t seen either of them since.
And a completely all white cat with blue eyes. I named him Ice. He was completely obsessed with me. I don’t know how it happens but there are some animals who are on my same wavelength. This gorgeous creature was killed by a car in front of my house while he was running towards me one day when I came outside. My heart has never healed.
So, there you have it. I have become a reluctant cat woman not of my own volition, but because I have found cats irresistible. I now keep four of Mimi’s remaining kittens (now five years old) inside at all times; two additional ones I allow out but they stay close to home; and Mitzi, who is not Mimi’s kitten but was my first. Mitzi is 15 years old now, and I recently noticed she has no teeth. She, too, stays close to home and lives mainly on my enclosed back porch, rebuilt after Hurricane Wilma. Lately she is having a hard time walking and getting up on things. I will have her until the end.
All in all, I have seven cats. I have also begun feeding a tiny stray cat in front of our house. She has beautiful eyes.
Dogs may cling, but cats will steal your heart. And, of course, this can also be said about chickens. Or maybe, it’s just something about me.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
A Letter To Gaza
It is clear now to me that my thoughts have taken on a life of their own. Possibly because I am in a degree in Public Health. This definitely could have done it, as I am insidiously being brainwashed with some rather remarkable ideologies; namely that people with these degrees can actually create peace and health in the world.
I can publicly state that I have been tremendously influenced by all my professors – remarkable as they are – who have come in every shape, size, color, nationality, religion, and personal lifestyles. This remarkable body of intellectually challenging university mentors and teachers have created in me, and possibly in all their students, an unusually high level of ‘savior complex’, which has manifested itself in today’s post, ‘A Letter To Gaza’.
What more can I say. After months and months of watching videos from around the globe and reading articles and books describing and portraying catastrophic human rights violations, including child slaves to the tune of 9 million globally (Child Slavery); child laborers totaling 160 million globally (Unicef: World Day Against Child Labor); man-made and corporate-created economic disasters and mass starvations in developing countries; an almost complete desecration of the crucial natural environmental resources in third world countries and rain forests by corporations around the globe; almost universal illiteracy; and serious issues in human rights (The Story of Human Rights), I can almost guarantee, with certainty, that my thoughts are no longer my own.
But I see this as a good thing. Having one’s thoughts take on a life of their own, particularly when it comes to global health, peace, and restoration , can be fairly admirable at times. I, for one, am beginning to actually admire these thoughts. I am curious to see how far this degree created ‘savior complex’ will take me.
Things are obviously getting interesting. I would never have dreamed I would be writing a letter to Gaza.
So here you have it, a Public Health degree-created ‘savior complex’ and thoughts that are not fully my own:
Dear Gaza,
As a university student getting a degree in Public Health here in the United States, I would like to ask you a few questions. After five years in Gaza, things for you have not improved at all. Actually, they have truly gone south. Why haven’t you yet been able to develop a sustainable community in Gaza? Why haven’t you been able to create jobs, adequate housing, parks for your children, and sustainable agriculture to feed your people?
These and additional questions stem from my work on my Public Health degree. If there has been one main thread throughout my degree it is that economic health precedes almost all other forms of societal health. If countries that have fallen victim to disasters are any indication as to what has happened to you, you will be surprised to know that external support often destroys a struggling nation’s economy.
Hand-outs, as they are often called, can ruin the ability of a nation to support itself. While handouts are often necessary in a crisis, like an earthquake or hurricane, if they are prolonged the local economy will never recover. This is what has happened to Gaza.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn has a land mass of 71 square miles. As of 2006, more than 2.5 million people made Brooklyn their home (What is the population of Brooklyn). The residents of Brooklyn enjoy a wonderful life. There is ample room for everyone. There is a wonderful economy, with businesses, jobs, schools, parks, homes, tourist attractions, everything that makes for a wonderful place to live. All this for 2.5 million people on 71 square miles.
I recently searched for the land mass of Gaza and discovered it was 146 square miles (Gaza: the Basics). That is more than twice the space of Brooklyn. I also searched for the population of Gaza. There are currently 1.5 million people living in Gaza. This does not include non- residents, tourists, and people coming into Gaza to work, as there are none. On the other hand, Brooklyn has hundreds of thousands of additional non-resident workers and tourists daily.
So here are the statistics:
Brooklyn, 71 square miles, 2.5 million residents, hundreds of thousands of additional daily non-residential tourists and workers – flourishing economy, healthy society
Gaza, 146 square miles, 1.5 million residents, no non residential tourists and workers – people homeless and starving, desperate and dependent on Israel
I have also lived in Miami, an even smaller, more highly populated city in the United States. Here are some statistics from there:
Miami, 35.68 square miles, 5.23 million residents (2008) not including the additional millions of non-residents as tourists and seasonal residents (Miami). Healthy, flourishing economy, healthy society
What is going on here?
Dear Gaza, you have clearly more than twice the space of Brooklyn, more than 4 times the amount of space of Miami, with only 1.5 million people as residents and no additional non-residential traffic. Brooklyn has 2.5 million residents, hundreds of thousands more as non-residential tourists and workers; Miami has over 5.2 million residents and millions more as non- residential tourists and workers.
As a student of Public Health, it is obvious to me that something is seriously wrong here. You have no economic health, and that is the problem. You depend on Israel for everything. If Brooklyn depended on New Jersey, or Miami depended on, let’s say, Tampa, for sustenance, they would also have millions of homeless and starving. You need to be self sustaining. You need your own economic strength.
When I relocated from Brooklyn to another city, I was distraught at being a woman alone with three young children. I was angry that I had to leave Brooklyn and felt completely uprooted and displaced. But right around that time I remember reading an article that had a small box on the page that said in big letters ‘bloom where you’re planted’. Since then, ‘bloom where you’re planted’ has become my mantra until this day.
Land for you is not the issue; at 146 sq. miles, you already have twice the size of Brooklyn and four times the size of Miami. What you don’t have are creative people who can show you how to put those 1.5 million people into decent housing, with good sanitation and running water, and additional creative people who can show you how to create sustainable farms on your naturally fertile soil (as we speak, Brooklyn, with their 2.5 million residents in 71 sq. miles has some of the most beautiful urban farms and gardens I’ve ever seen, and Miami, with their 5.2 million residents in 35 sq. miles has hundreds of backyard gardeners and community gardens, as well).
But. unfortunately, what you lack the most, is this remarkable ability to ‘bloom where you’re planted’. Without that, there is little hope for anything else.
Resources:
Child Slavery: retrieved from the web at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2008602565007230476#docid=8823573530624253148
Unicef: World Day Against Child Labor: retrieved from the web at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbLfFtzTokQ&feature=channel
The Story of Human Rights: retrieved from the web at: http://www.humanrights.com/#/what-are-human-rights
What is the population of Brooklyn?: retrieved from the web at: http://brooklyn.about.com/od/brooklynneighborhoods/f/qa_population.htm
Gaza: the Basics: Retrieved from the web at: http://www.slate.com/id/2208444
Miami: retrieved from the web at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami
Miami River Foods Project: retrieved from the web at: http://www.miamiriverfoods.org/
I can publicly state that I have been tremendously influenced by all my professors – remarkable as they are – who have come in every shape, size, color, nationality, religion, and personal lifestyles. This remarkable body of intellectually challenging university mentors and teachers have created in me, and possibly in all their students, an unusually high level of ‘savior complex’, which has manifested itself in today’s post, ‘A Letter To Gaza’.
What more can I say. After months and months of watching videos from around the globe and reading articles and books describing and portraying catastrophic human rights violations, including child slaves to the tune of 9 million globally (Child Slavery); child laborers totaling 160 million globally (Unicef: World Day Against Child Labor); man-made and corporate-created economic disasters and mass starvations in developing countries; an almost complete desecration of the crucial natural environmental resources in third world countries and rain forests by corporations around the globe; almost universal illiteracy; and serious issues in human rights (The Story of Human Rights), I can almost guarantee, with certainty, that my thoughts are no longer my own.
But I see this as a good thing. Having one’s thoughts take on a life of their own, particularly when it comes to global health, peace, and restoration , can be fairly admirable at times. I, for one, am beginning to actually admire these thoughts. I am curious to see how far this degree created ‘savior complex’ will take me.
Things are obviously getting interesting. I would never have dreamed I would be writing a letter to Gaza.
So here you have it, a Public Health degree-created ‘savior complex’ and thoughts that are not fully my own:
Dear Gaza,
As a university student getting a degree in Public Health here in the United States, I would like to ask you a few questions. After five years in Gaza, things for you have not improved at all. Actually, they have truly gone south. Why haven’t you yet been able to develop a sustainable community in Gaza? Why haven’t you been able to create jobs, adequate housing, parks for your children, and sustainable agriculture to feed your people?
These and additional questions stem from my work on my Public Health degree. If there has been one main thread throughout my degree it is that economic health precedes almost all other forms of societal health. If countries that have fallen victim to disasters are any indication as to what has happened to you, you will be surprised to know that external support often destroys a struggling nation’s economy.
Hand-outs, as they are often called, can ruin the ability of a nation to support itself. While handouts are often necessary in a crisis, like an earthquake or hurricane, if they are prolonged the local economy will never recover. This is what has happened to Gaza.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn has a land mass of 71 square miles. As of 2006, more than 2.5 million people made Brooklyn their home (What is the population of Brooklyn). The residents of Brooklyn enjoy a wonderful life. There is ample room for everyone. There is a wonderful economy, with businesses, jobs, schools, parks, homes, tourist attractions, everything that makes for a wonderful place to live. All this for 2.5 million people on 71 square miles.
I recently searched for the land mass of Gaza and discovered it was 146 square miles (Gaza: the Basics). That is more than twice the space of Brooklyn. I also searched for the population of Gaza. There are currently 1.5 million people living in Gaza. This does not include non- residents, tourists, and people coming into Gaza to work, as there are none. On the other hand, Brooklyn has hundreds of thousands of additional non-resident workers and tourists daily.
So here are the statistics:
Brooklyn, 71 square miles, 2.5 million residents, hundreds of thousands of additional daily non-residential tourists and workers – flourishing economy, healthy society
Gaza, 146 square miles, 1.5 million residents, no non residential tourists and workers – people homeless and starving, desperate and dependent on Israel
I have also lived in Miami, an even smaller, more highly populated city in the United States. Here are some statistics from there:
Miami, 35.68 square miles, 5.23 million residents (2008) not including the additional millions of non-residents as tourists and seasonal residents (Miami). Healthy, flourishing economy, healthy society
What is going on here?
Dear Gaza, you have clearly more than twice the space of Brooklyn, more than 4 times the amount of space of Miami, with only 1.5 million people as residents and no additional non-residential traffic. Brooklyn has 2.5 million residents, hundreds of thousands more as non-residential tourists and workers; Miami has over 5.2 million residents and millions more as non- residential tourists and workers.
As a student of Public Health, it is obvious to me that something is seriously wrong here. You have no economic health, and that is the problem. You depend on Israel for everything. If Brooklyn depended on New Jersey, or Miami depended on, let’s say, Tampa, for sustenance, they would also have millions of homeless and starving. You need to be self sustaining. You need your own economic strength.
When I relocated from Brooklyn to another city, I was distraught at being a woman alone with three young children. I was angry that I had to leave Brooklyn and felt completely uprooted and displaced. But right around that time I remember reading an article that had a small box on the page that said in big letters ‘bloom where you’re planted’. Since then, ‘bloom where you’re planted’ has become my mantra until this day.
Land for you is not the issue; at 146 sq. miles, you already have twice the size of Brooklyn and four times the size of Miami. What you don’t have are creative people who can show you how to put those 1.5 million people into decent housing, with good sanitation and running water, and additional creative people who can show you how to create sustainable farms on your naturally fertile soil (as we speak, Brooklyn, with their 2.5 million residents in 71 sq. miles has some of the most beautiful urban farms and gardens I’ve ever seen, and Miami, with their 5.2 million residents in 35 sq. miles has hundreds of backyard gardeners and community gardens, as well).
But. unfortunately, what you lack the most, is this remarkable ability to ‘bloom where you’re planted’. Without that, there is little hope for anything else.
Resources:
Child Slavery: retrieved from the web at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2008602565007230476#docid=8823573530624253148
Unicef: World Day Against Child Labor: retrieved from the web at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbLfFtzTokQ&feature=channel
The Story of Human Rights: retrieved from the web at: http://www.humanrights.com/#/what-are-human-rights
What is the population of Brooklyn?: retrieved from the web at: http://brooklyn.about.com/od/brooklynneighborhoods/f/qa_population.htm
Gaza: the Basics: Retrieved from the web at: http://www.slate.com/id/2208444
Miami: retrieved from the web at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami
Miami River Foods Project: retrieved from the web at: http://www.miamiriverfoods.org/
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