Interesting news

According to Haaretz, Osama bin Laden has been captured, but the State Department is denying it until Bushy can get the most political milage out of it. If he really is captured, I think that is great and that it is disgusting that Bush cares more about his re-election than charging bin Laden with his crimes and getting him to trial. Bush continues to spit on the graves of those murdered on 9-11.

As of the time of this posting, nothing on NYTimes website, nor Google News.

On the Passion movie

Recently, I saw the Passion movie. I went, because I had to speak about the movie for my job in the Jewish community. The movie was very very violent and quite troubling to me for a number of reasons. (I think it is important to say that non-Christians and believing Christians see different movies from one another, especially those of us who are Jewish.)

No offense to those of you who are Christian who find value in the movie, but I found it deeply disturbing.

Many resources and websites have been collected and put together on the movie. A great place to start is the Commission on Interreligious Affairs.

Another note - survivors should be particularly careful about the movie, as the violence might be triggoring.

Another terror attack

In case you missed it, Arafat's Al-Aksa Brigade has murdered again. Today's attack on bus #14 (Jerusalem Post article) killed at least 8.

This makes it 101 successful suicide attacks since September 2000, the beginning of the current violence, and another 149 that failed. Failed attacks refer to terrorists who either blew only themselves up or were apprehended while on the way to carrying out a suicide attack. 584 people have been killed by suicide bombers in the past 41 months. (statistics from Jerusalem Post article)

Shabbat Shalom - Wishing you a good end to the week

Greetings and Shabbat Shalom from a gray, windy and wet Midwesternville. As the hour creeps toward the start of the sabbath and the rest, quiet and reflection it brings, I feel a sense of quietude and calm.

I look forward to sabbath worship and other activities of the weekend and I hope that you too have a restful and rejuvinating sabbath (whenever you celebrate yours) and weekend.

In sisterhood and friendship,
Leah

A step closer to fulfilling a dream

Hi. A bit of good news about my personal life. Yesterday, I took a step forward in pursuit of my formerly derailed professional goals. Yesterday I got half of the train car back on the tracks, and in the coming weeks (if all goes well) I will have all the wheels on track and will be moving forward! Thanks for the support. (When I was nervous, I thought of all of you supporting me.)

Powerful Posters

Thanks to Mike, you can see some powerful posters which speak about Israeli society and values. Look at BlueStar PR Gallery for posters about unionized labor, asylum, environmentalism and the health care system in Israel along with many others. (for example, there is a poster there asking, "In what Middle East country do Arab women have the right to vote? Israel." Even I, left winger that I am, am moved by these posters and I find them to ring true and show a side of Israel that the world doesn't often see. Go and take a look.

Snow in Jerusalem

Jerusalem is beautiful in the snow, and today Jerusalemites are getting to enjoy it. I remember the two mornings I awoke to snow when I lived in Jerusalem. Magical and beautiful. My roomates and I got up early and walked around taking pictures.

Here are some reports on the current snow in Jerusalem and other parts of Israel:
Haaretz
Jerusalem Post
Maariv International

Happy Valentine's Day

Hi. I hope that you are having an okay valentine's day, free of triggors, stress and guilt. As a single woman with no plans for tonight who has never been big into Valentine's day, I'm not worried about being dateless. I hope that whatever you are doing with whomever you are doing it is fun.

For those of you with dates, life partners, husbands and wives - enjoy each other's company, celebrate your love and joy!

What Jews Believe

Occasionally, I get a question about Judaism and what I believe. The web site below does a great job answering some of the questions.

Rabbi Stuart Federow has an incredible web site on What Jews Believe which answers questions on Judaism and on the differences between Judaism and Christianity. Well worth a look and a bookmark/favorite!

"Alas, a blog" & a theory about rape

Amp at Alas, a blog analyzes why rape occurs in our society.

Quoting in part, Amp says:

"What causes rape? How can we change our culture so that it happens less often, or not at all? I'd like to give my opinions on this - at, perhaps, some risk of pissing some folks off....I'd identify three interrelated candidates: the myth of masculinity, cultural disdain for women, and our society's conception of sexuality as something possessed exclusively by women. If we want "24 hours in which there is no rape," then we have to destroy these three warped cultural ideas."


Here are some of my thoughts on that post: (as I posted on Amp's blog)

Amp,

I think your analysis has a large amount of validity and I hope it helps to open people's minds.

I do have some points of discussion/disagreement for you:
1) blaming society may lead rapists to say that they are not at fault for raping women - they are "just" doing what we "program" them to do. This is unacceptable.

2) I understand what you are saying about the possibility of rape being connected to sex. However, I think that the point of the theorists who say that it isn't about sex but about violence and power fits into your theme - they have the power to take what they want and since sex is what they want they just take it without consequences.

3) Men need to be held more accountable for rape and its long-term psychological and psycho-social consequences.

4) My largest point of disagreement is when it come to the "specialized" form of rape which is incest. I do NOT believe that a man who rapes/incests his two-year-old daughter (a common age for father-daughter incest to begin) is doing it for sexual pleasure. The bastard is doing it because he can.

Still here, still blogging

Hi all. Sorry it has been a week since I posted. It has been an incredibly hectic week at my various jobs and I've barely even been checking email. Sorry.

In promise to blog more soon,
In supportive sisterhood,
Leah

Farewell to Moriji

A few days ago, Moriji posted on his blog that he is going to stop writing it.
Best wishes to you.

Very Sad News

I am sad to say that I have more news to share on last week's suicide bombing in Jerusalem. N called me today and told me that one of the 11 people killed was Anat Darom, a 23-year-old statistics and sociology student (at Hebrew Univeristy) who volunteered her time and her heart at the Association for Rape Crisis Centers in Israel. While I didn't have a chance to meet Anat during my two visits to ARCCI's office in Jerusalem, I heard her name when she phoned in to the office. The Jerusalem Post writes about her and some of the others killed. You can see Anat's picture (along with 8 other of the 11 victims) on Tzemach.

May her family find comfort from one another at this horrible time.
Your sad sister survivor,
Leah