Can anyone say the word...

So I went to my first ever football match!

It was great, we played brilliantly and I was only slightly disappointed that Henry didn't get to play. It was an added bonus that he spent most of the game warming up his cute little tush right in front of my eyes. Now back to the game.

Everytime the ball went near the French goalie the crowd boo'ed. I am sure half the people there didn't boo Haman's name that much on Purim last week, and I think Haman's crimes were slightly more dangerous than the French player. But as Gilly says in his article here, I am sure it is justifiable because he used to play for Man U. I still think it gave him too much attention and it would have been much more disconcerting if the whole stadium had gone quiet and everyone had hung their heads... Think of being at a football match and suddenly everything goes quiet and everyone is looking at the ground, WAY more effective I think!

I also was shocked to learn that the most popular chant in Israel is one where one side of the stadium yells "Yisrael B'Milchama" and the other answers "Yisrael B'Milchama" (Israel at War basically). Surely this is the MOST inappropriate chant to ever be chanted in the history of chants? Surely we can come up with SOMETHING a little less controversial? Surely the version that I yelled out at the top of my little poor lungs last night "Yisrael B'Ahava" would be more Politically Correct... Surely NOT!

Oh well - can't wait for my next game - even tried to convince my hubby that we should definately go to Ireland for the game in June... Can anyone say the word f a n a t i c...

Oh and all those garinim.... gross! (Talk about culture differences, the people around us were munching garinim and we were eating fried wasabe seeds :)

Oh and well done to the 2 Irish fans who stuck around Israel and came to support the Israeli game against France. We love you Ireland and as for the French *insert appropriate insult here*

Joining the Bandwagon

I have decided to add my 2 cents worth about the arguments going on here and here in the blogosphere over JewishWhistleBlower's (JWB) somewhat reckless blogging style.

I think as bloggers we have to be responsible for what we say. If you make an accusation here in the blog world you should be prepared to face the consequences of your actions if it turns out you are wrong. Many times I read JWB's posts and think he is dangerous, and I am not the only one.

I have this to say to you JWB - I am all for opening up our communities to being scrutinized, criticized and dealt with when something is bad or corrupt in it. Which is what I think you think you are trying to do.

However, there are many cases where because of pressure and misrepresentation, innocent people are slaughtered in the public community. Besides being damaging to that person and all their friends and family, it is also damaging to the cause of trying to weed out the bad from the good. For example in the case with this teacher that Paul hints about in this post.

What if the teacher you were attacking was indeed innocent - as was proven in a court of law? Are you willing to deal fully with the consequences of your actions, and the things you have said? How can YOU be so sure, and with what right do you say the things you say against this person, with what authority do you claim they are true. Are you so confident of what you are doing that you are prepared to destroy a persons life over your vagrant accusations?

The consequences of the damage you could do to an innocent person, just by being wrong about them but not caring, are in my opinion as bad - if not worse than - if you had yourself committed the crime for which you are accusing this person. We have a moral responsibility to recognize bad where it is but at the same time to maintain integrity and make sure we know that a person is guilty before we publicly slaughter them.

Somehow I just don't think that is the case with you JWB. You are losing credibility, and that is sad because I am sure there are some genuine causes that you have fought and will fight.

Woohoo!

Going to the Israel/France game tonight! My first ever live football (soccer) match.

Only 2 problems I can foresee - how to control myself from being too excited if Henry or Pires score (it's a new habit I just acquired - sorry). And what to do if the Israeli fans embarrass us by being rude to the French team (we all hate the French - except Henry, Pires and Viera of course - but no need to be rude on International TV).

Go the gunners! I mean GO ISRAEL!

Parked in!

Over the last few months the parking situation outside my flat has been getting progressively intolerable. Often I get home and there is no parking outside - I end up literally having to park 2 blocks away.

I guess the main reason this has become a problem is that the building next door to us was finally completed and the residents have moved in, most of them with 2 cars each. To make matters worse there are 2 old beat up cars parked nose to nose directly across the road from us. A complaint I made to the police a few months ago hadn't brought any results, which surprised me because one of the cars was half parked over a disabled space. Then the other night a tow truck turned up and took one of the cars away, and it was not the car that was half parked in the disabled space??? Oh and if that wasn't enough, there is a big rubbish bin across the road too.(the big metal ones that they stick on the sidewalk in the most inconvenient place so someone can do renovations on their flat).

Anyway the final straw came this morning. Last night I rushed our Nushy to the vet, she is running a very high temperature and hasn't eaten. My husband's ranting that I was just being a "Jewish Mother" were unfair, she is indeed sick and 2 injections later I arrive home to find only one available parking spot across the road from us, behind another disabled spot and a tree. So I park and take the cat upstairs. This morning I got up early to go to work. I wanted to leave at a decent hour today, and I prefer to be in the car by 6:30am to avoid the bulk of the traffic.

Lo and behold some shmuck has managed to squeeeeeeeze into the small space that was not really available behind my car and now I am stuck because of the tree. I had to wait till nearly 8 o'clock for one of the cars to move, not to mention the extra 40 min I had to sit in traffic to get to work. Think of all those hours sleep I could have had! DOH

Purim Sameach

I actually wore my wedding dress last night, I made a set of wings, a wand with a star on it and I went as a big white fairy. All I can say is that I am glad I did not have to drive on my wedding day, it's impossible to drive in my dress :)

Happy Purim everyone.

Funny Names!

Last night we went to see JEST's (Jerusalem English Speaking Theatre) performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe. Let me say it was wonderfully produced, directed and performed. The characters were delightful, the orchestra were talented, without a doubt the best JEST I have seen yet. (except for the small fact that Iolanthe couldn't sing, but this is not what this post is about).

There was a girl in the cast, one of the fairies, whose real name is... Mona Liss! I kid you not! My father just suggested that perhaps Hope would have been kinder, It sure is funnier.

I remember some friends of mine jokingly wanted to name their daughter Mazal. The only problem was that their surname was Taub. Mazal Taub would have been just too awful! Or another couple I love dearly who joked about naming one of their kids Buenos, surname being Harris.

As my grandfather used to say "ay ya ya ya ya aya"

New blogger - Welcome

I have invited my father - Rampisad to be a guest blogger - should make Nushyworld that much more interesting.

NB: the views expressed by Nushyworlds guest bloggers are not necessarily those of the administration - but we choose to forgive or ignore :) enjoy!

Nushy

Protest in Beirut

We were watching BBC news and they were covering the rally in Beirut when a sign flashed accross the screen "Papa don't preach I'm in trouble deep."

???

Can't find the sign anywhere online but here is a story that talks about it.

Only in Israel #1

Say it can't be true?

A true miracle

This week marks the opening of a new Yad Vashem memorial. Dignitaries have come from around the world to honor this momentous occasion. As the years pass by, one cannot help feeling scared that the memories of the Holocaust will fade with them. That's what makes what Yad Vashem and Holocaust museums are doing all over the world so important!

And... It is that which makes this story all the more amazing. Two brothers find each other 60 years after the holocaust.

About eight years ago, Avraham Paskesz contacted a representative of the French Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld in Israel to ask him for helping in getting compensation from the German Government, which required documentation to provide the monetary reparations being offered.

"I did not have any documents, and did not have any memory," he said. After acquiring proper documentation to get the benefits, he maintained contact with the
researcher over the years.
The breakthrough in the case came after his 63 year old brother who lived in virtual anonymity for all the decades, recently applied to the Hungarian Government for compensation, and the two long-lost siblings were finally linked up by the Holocaust researcher, (who had years of expertise on working on Klarsfeld's nine-volume compilation of the names of Holocaust victims, which have been transferred to Yad Vashem's new computerized listings.)
Reunited in Jerusalem Sunday for the first time in 61 years, the two elderly men, their features distinct but similar after all these years --the one dark skinned the other light -- embraced, and, and in a complete state of awe, sat over the family photos.

About 2 years ago I went to a wedding here in Jerusalem. The most amazing thing happened on a trip to the bathroom. I was just washing my hands and half listening to a group of about four elderly women talking. One woman said to the other that she looked just like a cousin of hers she had growing up. After a few minutes of excited babble and tears it became apparent that these two woman were indeed cousins who had been separated in the holocaust. One was visiting from America, on the bride's side, and the other was living in Israel and was somehow related to the groom's family. There was not a dry eye in the bathroom that night. I will never forget the feeling I had standing there and being able to share in that moment.

Staaaaaaaaaammmmmmmm

I love the word S T A M.

Most people don't even realize that it has a double meaning. It depends how it's used.

The Short and Quick Stam:
The Short and Quick Stam is the one you want people to use on you. This is the I am only joking mate stam. The, oh-so-sarcastic "you look dreadful - stam" stam. The, just-trying-to-be-funny "your cars being towed, mate - stam" stam. It's not a harmful stam. You know when you get dealt a short stam it's just in jest. but then....

Then Long Drawn Out Staaaaaaaaammmmmm:
The long and drawn out staaaaaaammmm is always going to be an insulting one. The person who uses the long staaammm is doing it to be nasty. They use staaaaaammmmm to hide behind their insult, rather than hitting you in the face with it. Its the malicious "your wife's a fat ugly bitch - staaaaaaaammmmm." The sarcastic-mean, "are you pregnant or have you just put on weight - staaaaammmmmm". The below-the-belt "They're towing your car mate - staaaammmmm (now you know they are really towing your car)". The person who uses the long staaaaammmm does so to hide the fact that they are being rude, they use the staaaaammmmm as a cover up, it's the lowest form of sarcasm.

So next time you are stam'd think about how the person used it and then you will know the true intention behind the use of the word.

-Stam-

JPOST gaffs

The staff at the Jerusalem Post used to keep a text file of all the mistakes that got caught before and after print in the paper. The most famous ones being the time Jabotinsky was misspelled as Jabostinky and Arafat as Arfart, in article headlines.

Last week they reported on the visit to Israel of Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczyński, unfortunately the picture that they put with the story was that of, Ted Kaczynski, otherwise known as the Unabomber.

Could it be funnier than that?

Setting yourself up to FAIL!

I love my husband and all, but last night he stayed up to watch Arsenal play football (soccer to us normal people) against Bayern Munich. They did not make it through this round of the competition, even though they won 1-0.

As he was explaining to me that they needed 2 goals to win and if they conceded a goal, then they had to have at least 3 goals more than the other team to stay in the competition. The chances that they were going to make it were so slim, why watch? He gets so upset and depressed when Arsenal lose, not to mention his grumpiness from staying up late to watch the game.

I guess I will never understand this game or the people who watch it religiously!

A Lesson to all!

2 people I know quite well in the "area" just got engaged. I didn't even know they were seeing each other, but mine and my husbands immediate reaction was "WHAT?". Not because we are not happy for them, rather we are thrilled for them. We just assumed that they had known each other for many years and the match seemed a bit surprising.

Then we were reminded that people must obviously have thought/said that about our match. I have known my husband for nearly 7 years. You could say we were shule acquaintances. I would see him every week at shule, we would often chat, catch up on what was going on in each others lives. If I had a party he was always invited and visa-versa. It never really occurred to me, until it occurred to me, that we would be soulmates.

People sometimes ask us how it happened - I don't have just one answer - and I am sure they would all differ to my husband's answers. My only words of wisdom to those people still looking would have to be - look around you - pick someone you think is nice, tolerable, interesting, cute in a kind of dorky way and then splash out on a big shabbat meal and invite them over. It worked for me :)

Mazaltov A and E

Is there such a thing as a female chauvinist?

On Shabbat we were reading a dvar Torah from a newsletter, available in most shules, called "Shabbat Shalom". Anyway, the main gist (there was not much else to it) of the 2 page dvar Torah, written by Oshrat Shoham, was about how important a role women played in the building of the mishkan.

Now I am probably going to make some enemies with this post (you will forgive me PurpleParrot, Bloghd). But everytime I hear one of these "overthetop feminist, mumbo jumbo, hooha, women are important and lets not forget it" divrei Torah, I cannot stop my annoyance. SO WHAT!!! So women were instrumental in building the Mishkan, BIG DEAL!!! What I think the Dvar Torah did not say is that women were very probably busy sewing the curtains, making covers, decorating the ornaments, and making the tea for the MEN WHO WERE BUILDING THE MISHKAN! You know - woman's work.

Miriam, whose creative talents celebrated the Song at the Sea - via her musical abilities - was the one from whom would arise a descendant full of wisdom, understanding, and creativity, one chosen to lead the "national project." It was precisely Miriam, the more "folksy" of the two, whose water-well stood beside her amidst the people, who sang and danced with the women - she was the one whose descendant would take charge of the wonderful cooperative activity of constructing the Tabernacle.
It was precisely Miriam and her family, with their wisdom and creativity, who were chosen to lead the building of the Tabernacle: Not the natural candidate - Aaron - whose leadership abilities had failed him, and who was destined to perform pre-programmed ritual activities in the Tabernacle, who was unable to deal with changing situations, and not Moses, who grew distant from the people after the sin of the calf and God's revelation to him. Miriam was the one to lead in that so very significant stage of nation-building.

Naturally women took control of the "creative" building of the Mishkan. I am guessing they didn't have "queer eye for the straight guy" or "trading up" in those days.

Why do people feel they have to make such a huge deal about gender. I have no problem with the concept of woman's work, men's work. In fact as long as my husband takes the rubbish out I am happy. If it wasn't for the fact that we live in Israel and we need the double salary to survive - I would be quite happy staying home, having children and keeping house.

busy busy busy

Haven't even had time to watch American Idol - 4th season, That's how busy I am. However, what I have seen of it has been only... ok I suppose. What's with Simon Cowell actually giving constructive criticism. He probably watched himself in the last season and decided it wasn't good for his image. Oh well... maybe the husband will record it for me one of these days.

reverse anti-semtism revisited

A few months ago I posted about a friend of mine who has had trouble getting her registered address changed and file moved from the East Jerusalem branch of Misrad Hapanim (Interior Ministry) because she is not Jewish.

Read the full story here:

Now I hear that she has finally after more than a year managed to have her new address registered and her file moved, however at great legal expense to her and her family. I feel so terrible that this is the way things have to be.

If you feel the same way - would you consider donating some money towards my friend's legal expenses. She still has to fight the battle to get citizenship, so that she can legally hold an Israeli passport and travel in and out of Israel like a normal human being.

If you want to help her, contact me: nushyman@hotmail.com

Thanks

Shmanglo Scoop

Apparently Nick Cave lives in Jerusalem? You heard it first technically on Janglo... But now HERE on Nushworld!

--- In janglo@yahoogroups.com, "mashasacks"
wrote:

apparently nick cave lives in jerusalem - we have a question to ask him, do you know where he is???
--- End forwarded message ---