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Month of Shevat 5767 - חודש שבט תשס"ז (January 19 - February 18, 2007)
בס"ד

Not much to do on Friday of Chol HaMo'ed, so here goes:
Chag Kasher V'Sameach! Mo'adim L'Simchah, Chagim U'Zmanim L'Sason! Shabbat Shalom!

**Note that when you see 2 asterisks (**) it means that I'm adding comments based on the fact that today is April 6 - י"ח ניסן and a lot happens in 2 months, some of which applies to stuff written in this journal.

Month of Shevat 5767 - חודש שבט תשס"ז (January 19 - February 18, 2007)

Shabbat, January 19-20 - א' שבט:
I had a nice, pleasant Shabbat Rosh Chodesh in the neighborhood by Amichai for the 1st 2 meals, then in my apartment for Seudah Shlishit. I had wanted to stay around in case Chava had to give birth and Shmuel needed somewhere to sleep and eat. As it turns out, Chava waited until after Shabbat...
It was a really late night tonight because Shmuel and Chava had a baby girl!!! Shmuel slept over at my apartment because the hospital is near my place. I'm now an "uncle"!

Sunday, January 21 - ב' שבט:
Shmuel's daughter was born on my grandfather's yahrzeit. Interesting coincidence because Shmuel's father's yahrzeit is my birthday. Anyway, this morning Shmuel and I went to see the baby. She is absolutely adorable. I took lots of pictures and got to hold her too. I'm "uncle jonny". Yay!
This afternoon Shmuel and I spent a while trying to arrange the baby naming for tomorrow.
I was at a football party at Dov's tonight - I went with Nisan and stayed for 3/4 of the Bears win, and had some New Deli and beer.

Monday, January 22 - ג' שבט:
Another crazy day with shmuel - I read the Torah at Shmuel's daughter's baby naming that I helped arrange this morning (and managed to find enough friends for a minyan) - Ora Simcha Chaya - nice name. We saw the baby again after the naming. She is absolutely adorable. Pictures at http://www.onlysimchas.com/galleries/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewsimcha&SimchaID=59554&galleryid=37209&simchatypeid=1
This evening I went out with Shmuel helping get baby stuff in Geula. Then I came back and did some c++ tutoring and night seder again.
Shmuel slept over again tonight.

Tuesday, January 23 - ד' שבט:
Shmuel left my apartment this morning after 3 nights, so I finally got a chance to do some catching up on apartment stuff today and get my life back to normal.
Tonight I was at an amazing Avraham Fried concert at Heichal HaTarbut in Tel Aviv - it's his only public (I found out he'd be doing a private concert for Gush Katif expellees tomorrow) concert in Israel during his 25th anniversary world tour. He's sung so many great songs in those 25 years, many of which he sang tonight, some singles, some part of medleys, all with such feeling and
emotion. He is definitely a Jjewish music star. The orchestra and choir were good too, Shirah Chadashah boys choir also sang 2 songs.
I met a friend from Bnei Brak at the concert for the 1st time - I know her through the Jewish music Yahoo group and I've been helping her through some issues online, and we finally met in person.
The ride to the concert was uneventful, I bought a hot dog and fries from the Tachanah and ate on the bus, and walked from bus to theater, a healthy walk that I rushed, but made in time. The way back was eventful though - by the time concert ended and I met my friend, I had 10 minutes to catch a taxi and go an 8 minute ride to catch the last bus to Jerusalem. I came 2 minutes late, but the bus was held up by a suspicious object - Chefetz Chashud - 1st time that's ever come to my advantage - gotta love Israel!

Wednesday, January 24 - ה' שבט:
Today I napped a little after minyan because I didn't sleep much after the late night I had last night (well worth it for the awesome Avraham Fried concert though). When I woke up, I spent over an hour researching why Hotmail is rejecting Yavneh Olami's emails - apparently I've become their computer problem go-to guy. Then Shmuel came over in the late afternoon to do some work on the Parshah sheet - pretty much finalizing the articles. Night seder tonight.

Thursday, January 25 - ו' שבט:
I spent the afternoon at Shmuel's trying to get more ads for the Parsha sheet, this time in the company of a cute baby. I had to rush back because I had dinner plans tonight:
I had a fun time at Hebrew University tonight for the Yeshivah of Flatbush High School Alumni Reunion Journal Dinner in Israel (something that happens every 5 years). I met some old teachers, spoke to some Shana Alef guys about what the school and photography commission are like these days, heard some great speeches by Principal Emeritus Rabbi Eliach and a graduate from the 70s who is now an Israeli police spokesman, working with the press, goverment officials, and the like. If only we had more spokesmen like him and the press and government officials followed his advice more, our situation would be a lot better.

Shabbat, January 26-27 - ח' שבט:
I had a lovely Shabbat. Dinner and lunch were at my cousins with the fun and adorable kids (Yosef (2.5 yrs) and Tuvi (2 months)). Today the guests included the Detroit friends and another friend from NJ (3 people around my age). Last night I had an oneg with the guys and some guests at the apartment.
Tonight was a really late night editing our new Parshah sheet - due in for printing tomorrow, 1st issue to come out this Shabbat.

Sunday, January 28 - ט' שבט:
After davening this morning, I spent 2 hours by Moshe and Shani helping them with computer issues and eating brunch.
After a late night of editing and work with Shmuel on more editing all afternoon, we finally dropped off our Parshah sheet for printing today! It looks great, and we're very excited. You can view it online: http://www.torahfromzion.com/issues/5767/1-Beshalach.pdf
On our way back from the printers, we stopped off at Angel's bakery (the printing place is next to the huge bakery complex in Givat Shaul). I offered to make hot dogs when we got back so Shmuel picked up buns. We looked at the cakes and I chose an apple crumb cake. Then while waiting on line to pay, I saw cookies that looked like Entenmann's. When we came home, we tried them and they tasted almost like Entenmann's, but they're pareve which makes them even better. Not quite as chewy, but almost. This is very exciting news to me - after 5.5 years of trying various chocolate chip cookies in Israel, I have finally found an Entenmann's replacement!

Monday, January 29 - י' שבט:
I was back at the printer this morning to check the proof for the Parshah sheet and pick up receipt and USB key, then went to the post office to pick up certified mail from the municipality telling us we still hadn't paid, then made it to the Ministry of Absorption just before it closed (all that was walking from place to place - Givat Shaul to Beit HaKerem to town via Nachlaot - close to an hour of walking), came back and paid the property tax bill, caught up on some things that needed catching up on, did 2 hours of c++ tutoring tonight, followed by night seder, and more catching up on stuff til too late tonight, but a productive day nonetheless.
I got a call from my landlord that he sold the apartment tonight. **At this point I still thought I'd have a few months until the buyers would move in.

Tuesday, January 30 - י"א שבט:
We've had rain the last few days and there's more coming up through the end of the week and weekend, baruch Hashem. Shmuel came over today and we started working on the 2nd issue of our parshah sheet, Torat Yisrael.
More catching up tonight - I sent my bio to the guy in charge of the Kumah - Neo-Zionist Überblog (www.kumah.org) starting next week that I'm photographer for.
Night seder tonight.

Wednesday, January 31 - י"ב שבט:
While waiting for Shmuel before going to the printer, I had some time to kill in the Tachanah Merkazit, so I went into the new magazine store and found the copy of Mad magazine that my friend, Chari, who interned there over the summer is pictured in - exciting to see a friend in Mad. I bought it and another on a 2 for 1 deal. Cool magazine place - by the mall entrance near the food court.
When Shmuel came, we picked up the Parshah sheets! They are gorgeous even though we already found 4 errors (mostly minor)! How embarrassing. Well I guess we're human. It still looks great and the errors aren't egregious enough to change the content, just 4 words here and there, although 1 is G-d's name. The first issue of Torat Yisrael is officially printed and ready for distribution!
Tonight we got bags and labels for packaging, and dinner, at the mall. We came back and met with the distributor, discussed lists and ideas, and gave him most of the Parshah sheets. It turns out that he is a friend of mine. Then night seder, where I got to make my first delivery. I also made reservations for the super bowl at Nefesh B'Nefesh.

Thursday, February 1 - י"ג שבט:
Rough day today - everything that could go wrong with the sale of my apartment did - the owner lied to me but I don't have that in writing, the buyers found someone to buy their old place much faster than expected, and in short, I got screwed and I will probably have to leave my apartment in 2 weeks without a place to go to yet. But as always, Gam Zu L'Tovah, this is also for the best, and we'll see what Hashem has in store. **Thank G-d, and I really must, everything ended up going smoother than expected, as you'll read about on upcoming days.
More Parsha sheet spreading tonight. Responses are already starting to come in, and they are mostly positive. We're getting ready for the inaugural Shabbat! Check it out at: http://www.torahfromzion.com/issues/5767/1-Beshalach.pdf

Shabbat, February 2-3 - י"ד-ט"ו שבט:
What a weekend! This weekend my Israel activism increased exponentially:
This was the inaugural Shabbat of Torat Yisrael, my Parshah sheet! It was delivered to many of the anglo areas in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh (including Ramah). I brought it with me to Beit El - see below.
This weekend was also the debut of the renovated and improved Kumah Neo-Zionist Überblog, a mega-blog with 12 main contributing bloggers, including me - I'm the main photographer. Check it out at: http://www.kumah.org
With all that happening around me, I also managed to have an awesome Shabbat! I was at the T"U BiShvat Shabbaton in Beit El with Yavneh Olami, Am Segula, and Kumah - the 2nd "Keep Making Aliyah" Shabbaton. We met at the Tachanah Merkazit in Jerusalem and took an Egged bus to the Artis Hilltop of Beit El for some pre-Shabbat tree planting. Planting a tree on a hilltop in biblical Judea is an amazing way to celebrate Tu Bishvat. The group ate Friday night dinner together, which started with a Tu Bishvat Seder, courtesy of Malkah. That was a fun way to celebrate the species and fruits of the Land of Israel. After a nice oneg, I headed back up the hill with Pinchas of Kumah. We stayed by Yishai and Malkah of Arutz-Sheva and Kumah. I had a great time at their caravan including a late night discussion about the new megablog. We davened at the hilltop shul Shabbat morning, followed by a nice lunch by Fleishers' neighbors. There was a tour of Beit El during the day, and it's a very interesting yishuv. We ate Seudah Shlishit together as a group. After Shabbat, we took a tour of the Arutz-Sheva studios and Yishai and Ze'ev of Yavneh Olami, Kumah, and A7 recorded and interviewed us for a clip on their show - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/data/radio/asx2007/02/05/rl_585.asx. It was a very fun Shabbat for young recent olim on a yishuv north of Jerusalem on the real "Bible Belt".
T"U BiShvat Sameach!
Shabbat ended with a cold, rain storm. I got back to my apartment to find my heat out and it was very cold.

Sunday, February 4 - ט"ז שבט:
Another late night last night editing issue 2 of Torat Yisrael. I brought it to the printers today after going to Yonah and Dinah Goldman's son's Brit Milah in Kiryat Arba. I took some great pictures at Binyamin Tzvi Goldman's brit.
I also made my first post on Kumah today with Shabbaton pictures: http://www.kumah.org/2007/02/pictures-from-tu-bishvat-keep-making.html
After a brief nap, I went to a fun Nefesh B'Nefesh Super Bowl party! It was a good game for a while, and the party was fun with chips, New Deli, and beer, and a large projection of the game and commercials.

Monday, February 5 - י"ז שבט:
I slept late after super bowl, then posted super bowl party pictures on Kumah: http://www.kumah.org/2007/02/nefesh-bnefesh-super-bowl-party.html. I watched some commercials that METV (Middle East TV, an Arab English channel that has rights to the NFL) omitted during their broadcast, replied to some emails about the Parsha sheet and got another article for next week, spoke to Shmuel about some stuff for it, caught up on some other stuff, including a nap on the couch, signed up for an apartment listing site and made some phone calls that weren't answered or returned about available apartments, found out from the buyer that we need to be out within 2 weeks (I basically knew that but this was slightly more official than last week's notice), went to night seder, and did some shopping on the way home.
I'm quite stressed about the apartment thing, but it's calming to know that Hashem will help and guide and it's all for the best. At least we have heat in our apartment again!
I'm very excited about the Neo-Zionist Überblog - only positive comments so far - check it out (not just for my photos): www.kumah.org

Tuesday, February 6 - י"ח שבט:
I was out for much of the day - first I went to the printers to approve this week's Parshah sheet, then I went to Ramat Beit Shemesh (RBS) to get money from Chava and files from Shmuel's computer. While I was there, I was invited to play the piano for Chava's parents, so I found Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata amongst her books and played that. Her parents love me. Shmuel's mom got my pictures of the baby developed and they look great. The baby is adorable as always. On my way out of RBS, I took pictures of a picturesque sunset (check out the Kumah blog for my pictures - http://www.kumah.org/2007/02/picturesque-sunset-in-ramat-beit.html). It started pouring on my way back (been raining more or less for the last 8 days). I got back just in time to arrange a time to see an apartment, eat a quick dinner (finally tried the "turkey pastrami" or Ma'adan Shwarma (shwarma deli) in Hebrew that I bought a couple of weeks ago - best mehadrin packaged deli slices I've had in Israel I think!), and go tutor c++ in Machon Lev. I ran back after the tutoring to see what may very well be my next apartment (**it would be), then ran back to Machon Lev for the remainder of night seder. Tonight I reviewed a new Yavneh Olami email problem, posted the above blog pictures, and caught my breath.

Wednesday, February 7 - י"ט שבט:
Another day of running around seemingly endlessly - I had to go to the municipality this morning to transfer ownership to the new buyers retroactive to February 17 (slight chance it'll take them a little longer to come up with the money and we may have a little longer (**ended up happening Baruch Hashem), otherwise we may compensate them for the overtime that the renovations will cost if they're postponed 2 weeks, or try to force our landlord to do so). When I came back, I called and reserved the apartment in building next door, went to the bank to end payments for the old apartment, ate lunch at Holy Bagel, then went to new apartment owners place to talk details and put a 500 Shekel deposit on the apartment, 20 minutes to rest, then went to pick up this week's Parshah sheets, relaxing dinner, then tutoring and night seder tonight. Wow! Did I mention that I did this all on 3 hours of sleep and I'm totally exhausted?
At least I know I have a great apartment to move to, just have to sort out what to do from 30 Shevat - 10 Adar (2/18-2/28), but with G-d's Help, it'll all work out for the best. For those keeping track, I found an apartment in less than a week. I think you can say Hashem is watching me (us).

Thursday, February 8 - כ' שבט:
I caught up on some sleep this morning - so exhausted and stressed from the week.
The latest addition to our version of the apartment guys, Eliyahu - Amsterdam, was sworn (affirmed) into the army today and Dan, Nisan, and I went to his Tekes Hashba'ah (swearing-in ceremony) at Ammunition Hill (Giv'at HaTachmoshet) today. My pictures on Kumah: http://www.kumah.org/2007/02/idf-swearing-in-ceremony-tekes-hashbaah.html
We had an apartment meeting to discuss some stuff tonight relating to the move.
I did some Parsha sheet distributing tonight.

Shabbat, February 9-10 - כ"ב שבט:
This week's Torat Yisrael Parshah sheet: http://www.torahfromzion.com/issues/5767/2-Yitro.pdf
Friday night I ate at Chaya and Yisroel's in Ramat Eshkol, followed by a nice hour long walk back to my place - a little drizzling along the way, but not too cold - I think it's rained at least a little while every (or at least almost every) day for the last week and a half, Baruch Hashem. Shabbat morning I davened at Gruss because I wasn't sure if I had a meal there or not (miscommunication with friends). It turns out I didn't, but Machon Lev had an alumni shabbaton so I saw a few old Israeli friends while walking around the campus. I had lunch with 2 apartment-mates, and Seudah Shlishit with 1 apartment-mate and 2 other Machon Lev ESP friends.

Sunday, February 11 - כ"ג שבט:
I was at the Ministry of Absorption this morning to tell them I'm still unemployed.
When I came back I did some editing, both proofreading and graphics for this week's Parsha sheet, as well as discussing many ideas with Shmuel and apartment-mates.
The landlord was supposed to come by and clear out the storage room on Friday and we were going to present him with our plan for him paying off the buyers for the 11 days. He didn't show then, but said he'd come tonight. Once again he stood us up. I'm still not sure what will happen with the 11 day gap, but with G-d's help, whatever happens will go smoothly.

Monday, February 12 - כ"ד שבט:
I made a Kumah post that sparked another post today. It was in reference to the government, a picture of a sign calling some Knesset members a "rulership of losers" and telling them to go home. After that, I spent most of the day with Shmuel working on the next Torat Yisrael issue - http://www.torahfromzion.com/issues/5767/3-Mishpatim.pdf. We then interviewed a guy for an ad manager job, walked over to the ATM in Beit HaKerem, and paid the distributor.
I went to night seder then did some shopping on the way back tonight.
We got an email from someone from a church in California wants to distribute the Parshah sheet - wow!

Tuesday, February 13 - כ"ה שבט:
I brought the next Torat Yisrael issue to the printers today. While waiting, I found a store nearby that sells baseballs and softballs! They also sell ping pong tables. I'm considering getting one for the new apartment eventually.
I did some work on Yavneh Olami's website today.
I had a great phone call with a girl tonight. I don't like to tell too many details about my personal life here, but I'll mention her a few times so let's call her Leah. By far my best "first phone call" yet. **You'll be seeing more about her in upcoming weeks. As I write this, I'm hoping that those upcoming weeks will continue past the month of Adar, but at this point that's uncertain.
Great news tonight - Ron Blomberg, Art Shamsky, and Ken Holtzman, Jewish former Major League Baseball players, were signed as managers of the Israel Baseball League! This league is gonna rock - opening day is in 130 days!
Here's a great quote for all you American Jews who enjoyed Braveheart (courtesy of www.kumah.org): Many years from now, swimming in your pools in Florida and eating Jerusalem II Pizza on Broadway, would you be willing, to trade all the days, from this day 'til that, to come here, make Aliyah, and tell our enemies that we are finally home?!?

Wednesday, February 14 - כ"ו שבט:
The ski trip has been postponed a week because of a snow storm - that means more snow for us next week! Jerusalem is getting plenty of wind and rain so I can imagine what's happening on Mt. Chermon. Nachman and I interviewed a guy for Torat Yisrael ad manager this morning while Shmuel was on his way over, and we basically hired him - he sounds great, very excited about the project, and even wants to help us find writers. **He had to quite a week later because of family issues requiring him to return to Europe for a while.
Then I spent the afternoon with Shmuel, Nachman, and Nisan working on a prospectus to show potential advertisers. Then we went around Geulah tonight trying to get a few ads before places closed.
Night seder tonight, then updated our new ad rates among other Torat Yisrael related things.

Thursday, February 15 - כ"ז שבט:
I picked up Parshah sheets this morning with the distributor. Shmuel came over to pick up copies and work on some things this afternoon. I made a post on www.kumah.org about my Parshah sheet (http://www.kumah.org/2007/02/in-israel-there-are-many-weekly.html). I made some deliveries tonight while doing some cooking - BBQ chicken wings - 3rd time I've experimented with them I think and these were the best so far.
I called the White House comment line tonight to tell the president to release Jonathan Pollard. You should call too - many organizations have called for a call marathon daily until Pesach to try to get our brother and hero out of jail, where he's been for much too long, for the holiday of freedom. **Unfortunately Pollard is still in jail and it's Pesach already, but keep calling anyway!

Shabbat, February 16-17 - כ"ט שבט:
I ended up in Ramat Beit Shemesh this Shabbat - this whole weekend was a change of plans. I was supposed to be skiing in Chermon then spending Shabbat in Chevron, but skiing was postponed, and my friend had a miscommunication with the guy we were supposed to stay at in Chevron, so maybe I'll just go there tomorrow to daven for what I was planning on davening for over Shabbat.
Shabbat in RBS was nice though - I was by Shmuel, Chava, and Ora Sokol. The baby is adorable and fun. I saw a bunch of friends there over Shabbat, including Ilya who I told about the ski trip (**and he would end up coming). We checked some of the shuls where our Parshah sheets are being read by many people - nice to see. We davened Carlebach last night, and the Adar spirit was flowing during Mevarchim HaChodesh this morning.

Sunday, February 18 - ל' שבט:
After some Yavneh email issues stuff this morning, I went to Halo Teiman for an awesome Rosh Chodesh lunch. It's a mehadrin shwarma place right by the entrance to Jerusalem, next to the gas station. I'd heard it was great. Apparently I heard correctly because it was great - calf shwarma (usually in Israel you only get turkey, but they offer calf, turkey, and chicken).
Then I went chevron to daven for a few things. I was planning on being there for Shabbat but that fell through so I decided to just head down to Me'arat HaMachpelah for a bit. A few months ago there was a new Aron Kodesh brought there and it is impressive. See my Kumah post about it: http://www.kumah.org/2007/02/new-aron-kodesh-in-mearat-hamachpelah.html After a nice davening, I took 2 tremps (hitches) home.
Tonight I was at Chaya's Se'udat Hoda'ah - that was very nice and there are so many things to thank G-d for in her story. Then I met the people whose apartment we're moving into IY"H to discuss what of their stuff we may want to purchase.