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Does anyone know where one can view children's documentary online? Paid or free, doesn't matter.
THANKS!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Kylopod, this one's for you
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Did you notice in the davening on erev Yom Kippur, (tefila zaka) the second book of Shmuel 7:14, there was an *interesting* word.
Did you notice in the davening on erev Yom Kippur, (tefila zaka) the second book of Shmuel 7:14, there was an *interesting* word.
What Happened to B&D Rice Cakes?
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Does anyone live in Israel? Do they have B and D Rice Cakes in America? What happened to them? somehow they all got packaged without their salt. All the packs are saltless!
*sigh*
Does anyone live in Israel? Do they have B and D Rice Cakes in America? What happened to them? somehow they all got packaged without their salt. All the packs are saltless!
*sigh*
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
A True Utopia?
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In light of everything I've read, said, gleen and seen, what would be the ideal utopian
In light of everything I've read, said, gleen and seen, what would be the ideal utopian
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Date, White vs Blacks, And BM vs BW: Part 2
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A word on HASSADIM and GEVUROT. Please note that just like "up" doesn't exist without a "down", "left" without a "right", etc. So also HASSADIM is never alone and without GEVUROT.
So, before we conclude that all black folks are pure GEVUROT, and all white folks are pure HASSADIM. Just remember they both exist in a person - not in the same measurement, but they both still exist symbiotically in an individual.
So this made me think of interracial relationships. What does that mean? Can the black community be seen as MOSTLY GEVUROT, and the white as MOSTLY HASSADIM? If so, is the BM the more gevurot-ish of the black community or is the BW? Is the white guy the more hassadim of the white community or is it the white girl? Or perhaps there is no set rule and an individual case by case search is needed?
At any rate, while writing this I decided to ask hubby what he thought of us. "which one of us do you think is gevurot and which one is hassadim?" I asked as I tossed salad.
"I think I'm more hassadim." said hubby as he layed on the couch reading his Economist magazine.
I tend to agree. I seem to be the more active one, while he, at times, needs to be prodded into action. Then again, I can get frantic just sitting at a cafe, while he enjoys himself as if he owns the cafe!
Now please bear in mind, the part about people and their interaction with hassadim and gevurot are speculative on my part. I'll have to really dig to find a sage who actually expounded on this particular topic.
But I do want to thank HaRav Shelomo Eliyashiv for his work on hassadim and gevurot. And Bakst for putting it in simpler terms on his website 'City of Luz' and Hubby, of course, for his contribution.
A word on HASSADIM and GEVUROT. Please note that just like "up" doesn't exist without a "down", "left" without a "right", etc. So also HASSADIM is never alone and without GEVUROT.
So, before we conclude that all black folks are pure GEVUROT, and all white folks are pure HASSADIM. Just remember they both exist in a person - not in the same measurement, but they both still exist symbiotically in an individual.
So this made me think of interracial relationships. What does that mean? Can the black community be seen as MOSTLY GEVUROT, and the white as MOSTLY HASSADIM? If so, is the BM the more gevurot-ish of the black community or is the BW? Is the white guy the more hassadim of the white community or is it the white girl? Or perhaps there is no set rule and an individual case by case search is needed?
At any rate, while writing this I decided to ask hubby what he thought of us. "which one of us do you think is gevurot and which one is hassadim?" I asked as I tossed salad.
"I think I'm more hassadim." said hubby as he layed on the couch reading his Economist magazine.
I tend to agree. I seem to be the more active one, while he, at times, needs to be prodded into action. Then again, I can get frantic just sitting at a cafe, while he enjoys himself as if he owns the cafe!
Now please bear in mind, the part about people and their interaction with hassadim and gevurot are speculative on my part. I'll have to really dig to find a sage who actually expounded on this particular topic.
But I do want to thank HaRav Shelomo Eliyashiv for his work on hassadim and gevurot. And Bakst for putting it in simpler terms on his website 'City of Luz' and Hubby, of course, for his contribution.
The Date, White vs Blacks, And BM vs BW
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I have a beautiful friend. She's a BW and dating. Recently, she dated a guy (white guy) who was pretty interesting. Somehow the guy turned the dating into an armchair psychiatric appointment. My friend, let's call her Liza, was so driven up the wall by this guy. Always, the guy dominated the date and kept asking my friend to be more open, more expressive. Date after date, it was more of the same. Finally, I put my big nose into her affair and told her that perhaps its better if they stopped seeing each other.
And so they did.
Time past and I met my friend again. We got into the topic of 'that guy', let's call him Motty. Turns out Motty has been emailing her. I was surprised and said surely she didn't write back. Even more surprising was her answer. She said she still had feelings for him! Still?! I didn't even know she had had feelings for him. Shows how right I was to stick my nose into somebody else's business.
I must admit good things did come out of their dating. One was that she actually DID become more in touch with her own feelings. She was able to confront her father who had been quite mean to her when she was young. She was able to realize her denial about her shyness towards men in general. So much came out after they had dated that she was almost a new, better person.
This made me think of white folks and black folks in general. Then I backtracked and starting thinking about black and white.
Then backtracked some more and thought of the way God made this world, with all its polarizations: up and down; left and right; black and white; good and evil; etc.
Then I backtracked once again and thought about God Himself. In the end of the day, all is God, all is one. We just can't see it here. Here we see the polarized world. At least, we are able to realize that one polarized side can not exist without the other side existing. Many can define "up" as "not down" or they may define "black" as the "absence of white". Basically, there are other ways to define these words, but what I am trying to show is how connected they are, despite their polarization. One side frames out with the other side is -like a picture and a picture frame.
Or like the algebraic equation of X, and (1-X). That was for you, Raw Dawg. lol.
Speaking of black and white. As usual, in Judaism, there are lots of associations to these colors. For example, blackness is associated with GEVUROT -complexity, separation, activity, arousal, and gevurah (from the sefirot. which means strength, restrain, harshness, severity, justice). Whereas whiteness is associated with HASSADIM which is associated with CHESSED which means simplicity, unifying and chessed (from the sefirot. which means kindness and giving).
Of course, coming from America, I couldn't help but to think about race. Due to their association with black and possibly the world's subconscious knowledge of GEVUROT, Could this be why many folks hold on to the stereotype that black folks are strong, potent, etc the whole mandingo myth?
And with the whiteness, I know giving can sound very nice -and it is! I am a very giving type but I know, from experience, too much giving can lead to domineering. The giver enjoys giving to person X. Finally, when the giver needs something, the giver begins to feel 'entitled' to it (after all she's given) while person X begins to feel small and incapable by himself. He begins to be beholden, if not resentful, to the giver. If the situation doesn't correct itself it can lead to oppressiveness, or worse SLAVERY!
The whole deal in the universe, it seems, is about figuring out the right balance.
Right now, the black community is struggling with problems such as "why aren't we unified?" "why are BM dissing BW?" "How come we don't have leaders who care?" and the latest, the contemplation of dating outside the race. (is that so new? **blush**).
Churning this business into my thought process of HASSADIM vs GEVUROT, I remember reading someone's description of HASSADIM and GEVUROT. He (Bakst, from the City of Luz website) compared it to fire. The essence of fire would be blackness. GEVUROT. Drop a little bit of HASSADIM into the picture, and then you can see the real fire -flames, red tips of the fire, blue-ish area where its not too hot. All the variety of the fire's color, the heat, etc.
Imagine a raging fire - it tends to separate things by burning it into ashes and the ashes fly away into the sky. Divided, and not unified. Each spark flying off on its own -leaderless, and starts more fires where it lands. All its variation of colors are out for all to see. GEVUROT is simply the name we use to refer to the force in the universe that attempts to separate.
If we wanted to reverse the picture to look at things from HASSADIM's point of view: HASSADIM is simply the name we use to refer to the force in the universe that attempts to unify. And dominate. Think of the Borg from Star Trek ("We are the Borg. Prepare to assimilate"). Or better yet, think of how the world would be If God did not conceal Himself. Everything would truly be a part of Him without illusions.
Anyway, back to the Fire analogy. With HASSADIM, we would only see whiteness. A big white canvass. Add a drop or two of GEVUROT, and things begin to separate! Now you can see the various flames. Red flames relegated to the most heated areas of the fire, blue for the coolest areas, etc.
Then I went back to my friend and her date. It was such a classic problem. Too much HASSADIM reigning and dominating; And not enough "drops" of GEVUROT setting up boundaries or relegating things in its proper places!
more later...
I have a beautiful friend. She's a BW and dating. Recently, she dated a guy (white guy) who was pretty interesting. Somehow the guy turned the dating into an armchair psychiatric appointment. My friend, let's call her Liza, was so driven up the wall by this guy. Always, the guy dominated the date and kept asking my friend to be more open, more expressive. Date after date, it was more of the same. Finally, I put my big nose into her affair and told her that perhaps its better if they stopped seeing each other.
And so they did.
Time past and I met my friend again. We got into the topic of 'that guy', let's call him Motty. Turns out Motty has been emailing her. I was surprised and said surely she didn't write back. Even more surprising was her answer. She said she still had feelings for him! Still?! I didn't even know she had had feelings for him. Shows how right I was to stick my nose into somebody else's business.
I must admit good things did come out of their dating. One was that she actually DID become more in touch with her own feelings. She was able to confront her father who had been quite mean to her when she was young. She was able to realize her denial about her shyness towards men in general. So much came out after they had dated that she was almost a new, better person.
This made me think of white folks and black folks in general. Then I backtracked and starting thinking about black and white.
Then backtracked some more and thought of the way God made this world, with all its polarizations: up and down; left and right; black and white; good and evil; etc.
Then I backtracked once again and thought about God Himself. In the end of the day, all is God, all is one. We just can't see it here. Here we see the polarized world. At least, we are able to realize that one polarized side can not exist without the other side existing. Many can define "up" as "not down" or they may define "black" as the "absence of white". Basically, there are other ways to define these words, but what I am trying to show is how connected they are, despite their polarization. One side frames out with the other side is -like a picture and a picture frame.
Or like the algebraic equation of X, and (1-X). That was for you, Raw Dawg. lol.
Speaking of black and white. As usual, in Judaism, there are lots of associations to these colors. For example, blackness is associated with GEVUROT -complexity, separation, activity, arousal, and gevurah (from the sefirot. which means strength, restrain, harshness, severity, justice). Whereas whiteness is associated with HASSADIM which is associated with CHESSED which means simplicity, unifying and chessed (from the sefirot. which means kindness and giving).
Of course, coming from America, I couldn't help but to think about race. Due to their association with black and possibly the world's subconscious knowledge of GEVUROT, Could this be why many folks hold on to the stereotype that black folks are strong, potent, etc the whole mandingo myth?
And with the whiteness, I know giving can sound very nice -and it is! I am a very giving type but I know, from experience, too much giving can lead to domineering. The giver enjoys giving to person X. Finally, when the giver needs something, the giver begins to feel 'entitled' to it (after all she's given) while person X begins to feel small and incapable by himself. He begins to be beholden, if not resentful, to the giver. If the situation doesn't correct itself it can lead to oppressiveness, or worse SLAVERY!
The whole deal in the universe, it seems, is about figuring out the right balance.
Right now, the black community is struggling with problems such as "why aren't we unified?" "why are BM dissing BW?" "How come we don't have leaders who care?" and the latest, the contemplation of dating outside the race. (is that so new? **blush**).
Churning this business into my thought process of HASSADIM vs GEVUROT, I remember reading someone's description of HASSADIM and GEVUROT. He (Bakst, from the City of Luz website) compared it to fire. The essence of fire would be blackness. GEVUROT. Drop a little bit of HASSADIM into the picture, and then you can see the real fire -flames, red tips of the fire, blue-ish area where its not too hot. All the variety of the fire's color, the heat, etc.
Imagine a raging fire - it tends to separate things by burning it into ashes and the ashes fly away into the sky. Divided, and not unified. Each spark flying off on its own -leaderless, and starts more fires where it lands. All its variation of colors are out for all to see. GEVUROT is simply the name we use to refer to the force in the universe that attempts to separate.
If we wanted to reverse the picture to look at things from HASSADIM's point of view: HASSADIM is simply the name we use to refer to the force in the universe that attempts to unify. And dominate. Think of the Borg from Star Trek ("We are the Borg. Prepare to assimilate"). Or better yet, think of how the world would be If God did not conceal Himself. Everything would truly be a part of Him without illusions.
Anyway, back to the Fire analogy. With HASSADIM, we would only see whiteness. A big white canvass. Add a drop or two of GEVUROT, and things begin to separate! Now you can see the various flames. Red flames relegated to the most heated areas of the fire, blue for the coolest areas, etc.
Then I went back to my friend and her date. It was such a classic problem. Too much HASSADIM reigning and dominating; And not enough "drops" of GEVUROT setting up boundaries or relegating things in its proper places!
more later...
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