In Sderot: Bombs and Birthday Cake

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “In Sderot: Bombs and Birthday Cake.”

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and gave it to the Palestinians in a unilateral effort towards peace, but soon after terrorist group, Hamas, took control and has since been raining down missiles on the Israeli civilian population centers around it…Last night, as the missiles came towards Sderot and the Israeli sirens wailed for the people to seek shelter–they have only 15 seconds–the beautiful youth in Noaa’s birthday party ran towards the safe room. What was incredible with these youth, was that rather than stop the celebration and hide in fear and suffering from the missile attacks, instead they courageously continued the party and sang with great strength in Hebrew, Happy Birthday to Noaa!

Let us all learn from these amazing young people of Sderot to have birthday cake in the face of bombs and to celebrate life in the face of death, and let Mashiach soon come and bring us peace in the Promised Land.

(Credit Photo: Miriam Sasy)

Birthday Of Trees

Today is the holiday of Tu Bishvat.

That is the Birthday for (fruit) Trees!

It’s when Jewish people celebrate and plant trees around the world and especially in the Holy Land. 

Last night, we celebrated with Chabad Israeli Center of Rockville where they had not only of the “7 Fruits” of Israel (wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates), but they also had some very nice wine and cheese, delicious bourekas, and pastries. 

We learned about the biblical meaning of the “7 Species of Fruits” and the flourishing of the land of Israel, celebrated with music and song, and played a trivia game with our smartphones using a cool new gaming and learning application, called Kahoot. 

A special thank you to Chabad Rabbi Shlomo Beitsh and to Samy Ymar for sponsoring the event.

Overall, a beautiful evening to meet new people and celebrate a very happy birthday to the beautiful trees and mother nature that G-d has so benevolently bestowed on us. 😉

(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)

Your Everlasting Timeline

So I wanted to share this really smart thought about life and death:

“What is the most important part on a person’s tombstone?
The dash!
Why the dash?
Because it represents what a person has done between the date they were born and the date they died!”

We tend to wildly celebrate birthdays.

Also, we perform a remembrance (or memorial) on the date of a person’s death. 

But what is truly the significant part is what the person did during their life–the kind words, the good deeds, the positive influence that they had on people and the world around them. 

A simple dash between the DOB and DOD.

The small things are really the big things. 

No, an elaborate timeline of life events and doings.

Our time on Earth abbreviated, but not trivial at all. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

A Jewelry Kiss

I really like these Hershey’s chocolate…earrings!

No, they are not really made out of chocolate., but they are in the shape of chocolate kisses!

There are different colors based on the gemstones of the person’s birth month. 

There are also similarly rings and necklaces in the shape of the Hershey Kisses.

What a nice way to tell someone you love them and give them a jeweled, if not chocolate, kiss. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The Birthday Gift

Here’s a little joke my father tells–hope you enjoy it:

A man buys his wife a grave for her birthday.

The next year, he doesn’t buy her anything.

“Why didn’t you buy me a present this year,” she asks.

Says the husband, “Because you still didn’t use the one from last year.” 😉

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Adam Jones)

Celebrating Israel’s Birthday

Today was the Israel Day Festival in Rockville, Maryland.The Israel Scotts Tzofim Friends Caravan–are teenagers who are entering their senior year in high school–here they sing a modern day version of “Hallelujah.”

Hora DC is an adult dance group–here performing the classic Fiddler on the Roof, “If I were a rich man.”

If was a beautiful Sunday with lot’s of spirited joy celebrating Israel’s 64 birthday.

And we hope and pray for many more–with peace and security for all.

(Source Videos: Andy Blumenthal)

That Special Cane

After seeing one of my colleagues with this souped-up cane at work this week, I learned that this is the special gift for someone reaching their 50th birthday.

This is not an ordinary bamboo cane as you can see, but one with a rear-view mirror for passing, a honking horn for warning people out of your path, and even a little green change purse for the toll. 🙂

While I am no spring chicken anymore, I am still not old enough to receive my special cane–oh shucks!

But this did give me pause to think about what it means as we get older and the weeks and months at work turn into years and decades.

Before we know it, the up-hill climb of life, plateau and eventually heads in the other direction.

It reminds me of whenever someone asks my father how old he is…he flips the numbers–so for example, when he was 72, he would say I “turned” 27 and so on

It’s not easy getting old(er), we all want to be back in our youth or prime of life, which my father calls the time period, “when the world is too small,” and I think what he means is our aspirations are large.

This week at work, I learned that one of my colleagues who retired just a few years ago passed away from one of the horrible “C’s” — it was terrible to hear this.

Moreover, it reminded me of other colleagues who I have seen work hard their whole life, sacrificing and putting off all types of enjoyment, and waiting for that big day when they would retire and then they “could live the good life.”

And one guy, I remember, did retire after putting in his time and within about 3 months, he dropped dead of a massive coronary–I don’t think he even made it with heart beating to the hospital.

Life is too short!  And of course, life is hard–that’s how we are tested and grow–but we can’t wait for the good times. We need to savor every moment of our lives, appreciate our loved ones , and enjoy what we do day-in and day-out.

Else, we may miss the finest times that we have here on earth and then we really will be left holding that special cane and looking back at our lives in the rear-view mirror wondering why we wasted so much precious, precious time.