The State of Palestine?

Well, it's happened. The UN voted overwhelmingly to upgrade Palestine's bid to be considered a non-member observer state.  In a vote, 138-9 with 41 abstentions, Palestine is now recognized by the UN.  And that means they now have access to the International Criminal Court, where they can attempt to bring Israel in answer to charges of war crimes.

War crimes?  Really?  They send rockets into Israel unprovoked, and they want to accuse Israel of war crimes?!  Sigh.

So now the international community has recognized a country (or "country") whose main purpose is to destroy the Jewish state and the Jewish people.  To wipe any sign of the Jew off the map.  Essentially, a world-wide holocaust and ethnic cleansing, if they were to have their way.

Great. 

So what does that mean to the peace process (HA!! What "peace process"?)

Well, in terms of Canada - one of the 9 dissenting votes - Foreign Minister John Baird is recalling all ambassadors to Palestine, Israel and in New York as well as UN envoys - those closest to the issue, back to Ottawa temporarily.  He wants to know what's really happening "on the ground".  And the next question - will Canada stop aid to "Palestine"?

John Baird says that Canada is "considering all available steps" in terms of what has happened at the UN this week. What the Minister calls "utterly regrettable".

And it is regrettable.  Binyamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel has said that in order to move along the peace process (to which, again, I say HA! What "peace process"?) Palestine should not take a shortcut by going to the UN to get statehood recognition.  Unfortunately, that's exactly what they did.  And they won.  Palestinians in Ramallah took to the streets last night in celebration of the results of the vote.

But will this bring Abbas and Netanyahu to the barganing table again?  Will this foster the peace process or instigate further hostilities such as the ones we saw just a couple of weeks ago? 

Jonathan Kay of the National Post feels that going to the UN to get their status updated was a good move for Abbas and the Palestinian Authority.  Sorry, Jonathan, but I'm not sure I agree with you.  I guess time will tell, based on what Palestine does now and in the near future.  After all, once again, they are a nation whose charter calls for the destruction of the Jews and the Jewish State. 

Here's the thing that gets me, religiously speaking.  It is my opinion that the Bible, the Torah and the Koran (and other religious writings) are the interpretations of the person who wrote them.  Therefore, the Christians interpret the Bible one way, the Jews interpret it another way (and call it the Torah, the old testament in Christianity is the same as our 5 books of Moses) and the Muslims interpret it yet another way (and I'm not getting into any other religions, so please don't flame me for not discussing how the Pastatarians interpret it).

I'm seriously considering getting an English copy of the Koran and reading alongside my copy of the Chumash (the 5 books of Moses - the Old Testament - the Torah).  I'm sure I could get it from my library.  It would be interesting to see whether or not our religions are similar in any part.

As a matter of fact, I think that will be my next project - to compare Judaism and Islam, and perhaps Christianity through the Bible.

Sources:
1. http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/11/30/ottawa-to-review-palestinian-aid-after-bairds-strong-rebuke-of-statehood-vote/

2. http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/11/29/canada-considering-all-available-steps-baird-lashes-out-at-un-ahead-of-utterly-regrettable-decision-to-recognize-palestine/

Am Israel Chai!

As most people have probably heard already, there has been a ceasefire called in the tensions between Israel and Gaza. 

Last Monday, Matthew and I chose to attend a rally in support of Israel at our local Jewish Community Centre - the Schwartz-Reisman Centre - where we listened to speeched from our federal government representatives as well as local representatives.  We also saw (as we were at a satellite location, this was all viewed on a video screen) four young members of the Israel Defense Forces who introduced themselves.  Not one of them was over 22.

During the conflict, I reached out to an officer in the IDF, who I met on my trip to Israel last year.  I wanted to be sure she was safe and well.  She was, and she assured me she did not believe the conflict would last very long.

So now it comes down to my own personal opinions now that the conflict has resolved, for the time being.

What do I think should have occured between Israel and Gaza?

Part of me thinks Gaza should have been "bombed into the Middle Ages" simply because their own political charter is one of extremism, and extreme denial of Israel's right to exist.  They have proven time and time again that their agenda is no more than wiping Israel and all the Jews off the face of the Earth.  

But, on the other hand, that's not to say there aren't innocent people living in Gaza.  Just as there were Nazi dissenters living and acting as though they supported the Nazi party and Hitler's "Final Solution", I am sure there are Gazans living as though they support Hamas (they're a recognized terrorist group - their aim is terror - wouldn't you act as though you supported them, to their face, rather than face the alternative - a painful existence leading up to a painful and humiliating death?) but who in actuality and underground, don't.

On neither side do I feel that a single drop of civilian blood should have been shed.  Unfortunately, in times of war, that is often the case.

It has been well documented that the rockets launched from Gaza were housed in densely populated areas, often from apartment buildings, schoolyards, and near mosques and other areas where civilians would likely be.  Even if the IDF were to have targeted only rocket launch sites, they'd be targeting densely populated areas.  The spilling of innocent blood would be impossible to avoid.

In Israel, several civilians (far, far fewer than in Gaza) were killed by rocket attacks.  Two of the dead were IDF members.

But what made this conflict worse, wasn't the amount of rockets being launched and where they were being launched from, but from what essentially was a war in social media.  Photos of dead and injured babies were posted by the Palestinians claiming the children had been killed or injured in Israeli airstrikes.  Only to have those photos debunked as either being from the conflict still raging in Syria, or in one case, the photo of an injured "Palestinian" baby, actually being of an Israeli baby!  The BBC ran a clip of an 'injured' "Palestinian" and 32 seconds later in the same clip, the injured man is walking around as if nothing had happened.

So, what's the truth? What's really going on?  I think, unless you're actually in the conflict zone, and seeing it all with your own eyes, we'll really never know.

All I can say is "Am Israel Chai!" Whatever is going on, I always stand with Israel.

Where I'm At

So, for the past couple of years, I've been trying to live a more kosher lifestyle.  I embraced the "uniform" of long skirts, modest tops, and covered my hair.  Much to the consternation of my family.

So where am I at, in November, 2012?  One step forward, two steps back.

I no longer cover my hair.  My mom made a comment that perhaps my hair being covered may have  been  an obstacle to my finding a job.  Can I say for certain she's wrong?  After a year of unemployment, I was beginning to get desparate to try anything that might make it easier for me to find a job.  And then at Rosh Hashanna, I got a really, really bad ear infection and the thought of trying to figure out not only what to wear, but what head covering to match and the act of putting somehthing on my head (brush, shampoo, anything included) was just too painful.  Yes, I still washed and brushed my hair, regardless of the discomfort, but I couldn't be bothered with a head covering (add to that the fact that I was given an antibiotic that didn't work initially, so my ear infection just got worse and worse).

At the same time, I was working at the Schwartz-Reisman Centre (the new JCC at Bathurst and Lebovic Campus Drive- just north of Rutherford) and while wearing skirts wasn't impossible or even difficult to choose (black.  I was allowed to wear black bottoms - skirt or pants and a black or white top with a vest given by the Centre) I found I was rolling over my skirt hem at the desk. So I went out and purchased my first pair of pants (well, 2 pairs) in 2 years.  So, do I still wear skirts? Yes.  Not as often, but at work - I now work at Youthdale Treatment Centres at Yonge and Dundas.  I wear skirts to work (except on Fridays when I can get away with the black fleece pants I wore at the SRC).  But I do still wear skirts, dress modestly and such.

But Gayla, what about keeping kosher, and all that other stuff?

We are still keeping kosher in the house.  Well - Kosher-Style.  I don't always buy kosher meat but we still do separate milk and meat.  The person who was supposed to contact me about kashering my kitchen never did contact me and I don't have their contact information, so I sort of dropped it.  The rabbi I was working with seems to have forgotten we exist, as he no longer responds to e-mails, nor has he sent any e-mails to see where we're at since before the High  Holy Days.  So, we've scaled back the kosherness of our home.  As I said, we still keep kosher - we don't eat pork or shellfish in the house.  I'm more lenient when it comes to pizza - but if the kids want meat on their pizza, it gets eaten off a paper plate.  Milk/meat mixture recipes are still prepared with soy instead of cow's milk, as I still won't mix milk and meat, but for the most part, we're much more lenient when it comes to what food is coming into our home.  I certainly won't accept someone bringing, say, pork rinds as a snack, but other than that, we're more lax - somewhat.

Shabbos is still important to me, and even though I'm working full time now and can't leave early on Friday night, I light the candles, even if it's late, and now that it's winter (snow has fallen, it's winter.  I don't care what the calendar says), it's chicken soup weather, so my slow cooker is getting a good workout with the long work hours - chicken soup gets readied Thursday night (I prep the veggies, and make sure there is chicken in the fridge to put in the pot in the morning) then Friday morning, I toss in the chicken, water, salt and pepper and my  other secret ingredients, and I put it in the slow cooker for the day.  It's hot and ready when I get home.  I've bought some frozen challahs because I haven't had a chance to make any fresh on my own - still trying to figure out my new schedule - and if I remember to take one out of the freezer, we also have a fresh, hot challah for Shabbos, as well.  Otherwise, I send Matthew a desparate text message that I forgot to take the challah out and can he please run to the bakery and get one for our table. 

But, Gayla, if Shabbos is still important to you, why are you driving, watching TV, using the computer, etc?

Because, to be completely honest, I was tired of fighting with my family.  My husband works Saturdays, and that's not going to change.  My children have pushed back against not using electronics on Saturdays since I tried to institute it - and I think I was incredibly fair.  The main floor was the "Shabbos Floor" where no electronics were used.  If they wanted to play their DS or watch TV, they could do so upstairs, or in the basement.  That lasted about a year.  When you're the only one in the household who is attempting to live a kosher lifestyle, it's virtually impossible to do so successfully.  I felt the support of my family wavering - from my immediate family (husband, kids) to my extended family (parents).  My friends were still very supportive - acknowledging that I shouldn't have to drive on Saturdays, and making arrangements for my kids to go on playdates that wouldn't require me to drive them, but it just got too hard to fight against my family all the time.  I never told the kids they couldn't go to friends' parties on Saturdays because my children attend a public school and most of the parties are on Saturdays.  So I'd be driving those days anyway. 

Gayla, are you happy with where you are now?

Yes and no.  I would have liked to have continued the way I was going, but the lack of support was just making it too hard.  So, I have had to make the adjustments, since no one would adjust to me.  I guess you could call it an experiment.  My husband is still gung-ho about going to Israel for the girls' B'nei Mitzvot, and that is important to me. 

We still give tzedakkah (our charity of choice being Kfar Yeladim David in Jerusalem - a home away from home for Israel's disadvantaged children).  We sponsor a child there - Devorah is our "adopted" daughter and we have had the opportunity to meet with the directors both when I was in Israel and through frequent visits from them to Toronto where Team Toronto has worked hard at helping obtain funds and sponsors for the home.  I have to give kudos where kudos are due - my friends Dayna Caplan Switzer and Monique Singer have worked tirelessly for KYD by hosting them when they  have come to Toronto and bringing more people to listen to what it is that they do for children in Israel.

So, that's pretty much where I'm at