Author: Ashira

Cat Links Israel realizations, musings, my life, Travel

Love- of what exactly?

Posted on Ashira

I remember the first time I got off the plane in Tel Aviv. The excitement at every little thing. Falling in love with Israel, my country.The foreign landscapeThe ancient treesThe street signs in Hebrew, Arabic and EnglishCNN internationalSpeaking Hebrew to ‘real’ IsraelisThe sense of historyJerusalem stone Between that visit and now, I’ve been in Israel a number of times.Each visit less and less exotic. This time, as I sat in the sherut from the airport to Yerusahalyimwith the sun setting golden over the Jerusalem mountainsand the moon, nearly full faintly on display,It should be more romantic.Instead I felt empty. Perhaps it was not Israel that I lovedbut traveling. Since that first visit to IsraelI’ve seen more foreign landscapesmore ancient treesstreet signs in many languages.I’ve watched other tv channelsspoken in more languagesand seen more historyand more stones. There are memories I relish moreand places where I have felt more free.What is Israel to me?Why do I feel so empty?

Cat Links Israel realizations, Jew-ish, musings, pluralism, religion, social justice

Being Invisible

Posted on Ashira

This morning- I got to minyan early. I’m standing in the synagogue, reconnecting with someone I haven’t seen in years when three others walk into the room. One of them says, “great we have four people.” To be honest I don’t remember his exact words, but I do remember math. When does 2+3=4? When one has the xx character trait thereby making her ineligible to count in an Orthodox minyan and apparently rendering her invisible and not a person. This experience has happened to me before- Unfortunately, I have been relegated to non-person status in cities all over the world, almost always by  men, who, I hope, don’t realize the pain that they have caused . What makes this time different is that I’m at the Siach conference- an environmental and social justice conversation. More info here. It is certainly a great group of very talented people. Most of the conversations that I’ve had have been with fascinating people, presenting the challenge of not wanting to extract myself from intense and good discussions. I was having a great time until this moment, and I’m not sure what to do with it. Perhaps I was tired because this morning I just

Continue readingBeing Invisible

Cat Links Uncategorized

Pesah Sermon

Posted on Ashira

-delivered in on the 2nd day of Passover at Ramah Darom חג כשר ושמח When you think about it, this is a quite strange thing to say. Have a kosher and happy holiday? For many who have prepared a home for passover, these seem like diametric opposites. And it seems incredibly difficult to attain a kosher for passover home as well as maintaining happiness. (especially if you don’t attend pesah at Ramah Darom!) It does make sense to wish a חג שמח, we say this on many hagim. but why would we remark on kashrut? Why not say, may you appreciate or attain liberty or may you enjoy the beginnings of Spring. Why wish people a kosher Passover?! Pesah does stand out as a time when more people are interested in kashrut than usual. Not only kashrut, but the intricacies of the law. Many many people adopt a more stringent practice on passover than the rest of the year. This is even acknowledged in the tradition of tending towards the stricter position when Passover is involved. In the Talmud in Berakhot it says שואלין ודורשין בהלהות הפסח קודם שלושים יום- that we start to learn the laws of Passover 30

Continue readingPesah Sermon

Cat Links morocco, my life, photography, Travel

Marrakech day 1.5

Posted on Ashira

Saw more of the city, but most of it is moving so quickly (or so dark) that it’s hard to get sharp photographs. Here are a few highlights: Donkey and cart- these negotiate the alleyways along with mopeds and motorbikes and lots of people. Stork with the High Atlas mountains (we’re going there tomorrow) Stork on the walls of Palais El Badi- It was in use for less than 100 years! Now it’s a home for storks and pigeons.

Cat Links morocco, my life, photography, Travel

Marrakech Day .5

Posted on Ashira

We’re arrived safely, and all is (insha alla) well. Here are a few pics to prove it: Tim waiting for the train at Casablanca airport- enjoying the station’s free (!) internet Details at Medrassa Ben Youseff Chair at Medrassa Ben Youseff Tim at Medrassa ben Youseff Details at Medrassa Ben Youseff Tim’s parents are here too (admiring the details at Medrassa ben Youseff). We’re all having a good time

Cat Links my life, NY

Kafka comes to NYC Part II

Posted on Ashira

Thanks to MyUpperWest for covering this story. Here are a couple of pictures taken at 8:50 this morning at Riverside and 96th st. don’t be deceived by the fact that you can see the sidewalk…. this hasn’t been cleared since last week’s ice storm, so the sidewalk is very slick.Though the city can’t work out which agency is responsible for clearing the ice, I’m sure that there are many lawyers who would be happy to work out who is responsible if someone gets hurt.

Cat Links my life, NY

Kafka comes to NYC

Posted on Ashira

This section of sidewalk where Riverside Drive passes over 96th street, on the east side of the road is still icy and dangerous (especially for those who need to run to the bus). Riverside drive and 96th street For the second time this year, I called 311 to file a complaint to ask the city to clear the sidewalk. Instead I was treated to an excursus about how, since there is no private or commercial property around the sidewalk, the city is not sure which of it’s own department is responsible for snow and ice removal but they were starting an investigation to figure it out. I explained that I don’t care which city department is responsible, as a tax paying citizen of NYC, I expect the city to work out its issues and shovel the sidewalk. I was told that though it is reasonable for me to have no vested interest in who does the job, the folks at 311 can’t enter it into the system until they can assign it to a department. Though I was assured that after my first complaint, they sent an officer to look at the sidewalk and he noted that there were no

Continue readingKafka comes to NYC