There is a story going around and reported on on all the religious news media. It is a nice story so I feel like posting it here, though I am not sure there is some great lesson or moral behind it...

So yesterday a couple was caught smuggling in to the country 375 pounds of Fruit Roll Ups.

An American couple was caught trying to smuggle 375 POUNDS of Fruit Roll Ups into the State of Israel after prices skyrocketed once the snack became part of a viral TikTok trend.

Did you pack your bags yourselves and also are they full of exclusively candy? pic.twitter.com/GtGh76Z9n9

— Amy Spiro (@AmySpiro) May 1, 2023

A fisherman in England caught a famous 67 pound goldfish named The Carrot.

created, granted and dubbed by a dedicated reader...

The jokes, and comments, practically write themselves.

It was a short holiday but lots has happened - so much has happened, but what can is ay about any of it that has not been said? Meron tragedy, Karlin tragedy, "blaming" women and sheitels for the tragedy, finding ways to "investigate" the tragedy without giving anyone the ability to be blamed or responsible, Cellcom striking for an hour in solidarity with their Arab workers who were striking to show solidarity with Hamas and then claiming it is a form of an expression of unconditional love, the world (or at least much of the media around the world) taking the side of a terrorist organization just because there are not enough Israeli Jews dead, government formation intrigue while at war... and more.

I don't remember this but my wife reminded me that when we were newly married one of the rebbies in yeshiva called me in to tell me off because someone had seen us holding hands and told him

so many apologies today. is something in the air?

Netanyahu apologizes to the Turks.
Erdogan apologizes to the Russians.
Deri says we should all apologize to Rav Uzi Meshulam (regarding the Yemenite children affair)

anybody else? is this the new trend in the Middle East?

This Shabbos is Shabbos Shira. The custom is to feed the birds some crumbs, for a variety of reasons: either because they did not eat the manna that was out for the Jews in the desert, or because we "borrowed" their ability to sing when we sang after the splitting of the sea, or for other reasons.

The custom used to be to feed the birds on Shabbos, but in more recent years it became more common to feed the birds on Friday, due to a concern regarding the halacha of not feeding wild animals on Shabbos.

Anyways, if it is too difficult for you to gather some crumbs and pieces of challa to throw to the birds, you can now purchase a pre-prepared set of crumbs for the birds...



I'll assume the hechsher is on the bottom of the container, otherwise this might be a terrible michshol..

this goes up there with the jars of salt water for the seder and with the packages of 10 pieces of bread for bedikas chametz..

According to the Salt Lake Tribune a Utah man was convicted for killing "the rabbi" in 2011. "The Rabbi" was a trophy deer known as "the rabbi" because of its unusually large and unusually shaped antlers.
(Hattip: Yaak)

musings:
1. I tried to do a little research (truthfully, very little) about this but could not find any background info. strange
2. was the name "the rabbi" an anti-semitic one? because Jews have horns?
3. referencing MBD's famous song from his early days, we chased them from Jerusalem back to Utah overnight, so they decided to kill the rabbis in Utah in exchange?
4. looking at the picture, maybe it was called "the rabbi" because its antlers look like hands held up heavenward in prayer?
5. why was there no outrage, like when that dentist killed the lion? because this was only a rabbi that was killed?

I led the services this Friday night in shul, despite the fact that when the gabbai asked me to I informed him that I put the "can't" back into "cantor"...

At first the Rachel Dolezal story sounded strange, like a joke, and even a bit ridiculous. Initial thoughts included thinking she might be crazy, maybe insane, wondering why a white person cannot run an organization for the advancement of colored people, wondering what's the need... but mostly thinking she must be crazy.

Now, as the dicussion about her situation continues on, my wonder has turned in another direction. Forget if she is crazy or insane or ridiculous..

Now I wonder what the big deal is. I wonder - if a man can consider himself a woman and be considered a hero, if a woman can consider herself a man, if anybody can pretty much consider himself whatever he or she wants and be considered normal in society, so why can't a white woman consider herself black?

Is Rachel Dolezal white? Is she black? Who cares what she calls herself? Why does it matter? People call themselves whatever community they want to associate with...

And if you do not like it, if you have a problem with a white woman considering herself black, you have a problem with our society in general today. Rahel Dolezal did not do anything out of the ordinary of today's society.

Israel is now one step closer toward becoming a first world country..

Today, the Economic Committee of the Knesset approved a ban proposal submitted by Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz. Katz wanted to ban wagons pulled by animals in cit and intercity streets. Such methods of transportation can still be used in the roads of moshavim and kibbutzim. Wagons pulled by donkeys or horses are still commonly used by the alte achen people, though our alte zachen guy in Bet Shemesh uses a small truck, no donkeys or horses.

What about those tourist trap events, as we find all over the world, where one can take a ride in a horse-drawn wagon? The local municipality, in coordination with local police authorities, will be able to give special permits for such  wagons for entertainment purposes.

Katz says using animals in such a manner causes a danger for drivers and pedestrians, as well as causing traffic jams. Another concern is that the animals used for these purposes are not cared for properly, can spread disease, and it is cruel to use them in this fashion and not care for them.
source: INN

Progress!

Soon we will have all animals out of our streets and public areas. No more chickens for kapparot in the streets, and now no more horse and buggy meandering through our towns.... By hook or by crook we will pull our people into the first world!

we used to say something went the way of the dodo bird. now we can say it went the way of the horse and buggy..

I saw this truck transporting construction material driving in front of me this morning...

I was not quite sure what the phrase at the top of the truck meant.. I think they need a new English copywriter...



update: turns out the phrase is part of a verse in the Koran

Hard to believe that the guy who just ran for mayor of a major city, Israel's largest in fact, was just picked up for allegedly trying to smuggle an unusual amount of clothing through the airport...

If you have not yet guessed who the smuggler is (alleged, of course), it is Moshe Leon.

The only thing that makes this story notable, besides for his recent attempt to win the public trust, is how it was reported. The report in NRG says that Moshe Leon was arrested (detained, perhaps?) for smuggling the clothes. At the same time, Kikar reports the same story just by saying a well-known accountant was arrested for smuggling clothes and that the name cannot be publicized...

I took the following screen shots of the reports within a minute of each other, so either one is breaking the gag order or the other is making up a gag order because they don't want to say his name...

Kikar's anonymous smuggler

NRG's Moshe Leon smuggler

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Donate to the Schneider Hospital so I can run the Schneider benefit marathon..

We all know the famous story of "Yosef Mokir Shabbos". The story of Yosef, briefly, is of the poor Yosef who afforded great honor to the Shabbos and spent his meager earnings in the honor of Shabbos who was rewarded when he cut open a fish he had bought for Shabbos and discovered the jewel it had swallowed and suddenly he was wealthy.

Up in the Golan Heights lives Danny and Maya. They raise dogs and parrots, along with a number of exotic snakes.

They bought a Brazilian Rainbow Boa, a.k.a. Epicrates Cenchria, a year and a half ago but just a couple of months ago they noticed a change in their rainbow boa - he seemed to no longer have an appetite. They figured it was due to the onset of winter and the snakes hibernation during which they eat much less.

A few days ago Danny discovered the rainbow boa to be dead. Out of concern that maybe it had died of an illness, something the other snakes might need protection from, he brought the boa to a vetrinarian for analysis.

An x-ray revealed a metallic object that looked like a ring. The vet opened up the snake, found and removed the ring. The vet said this was the first time he has seen a snake that swallowed undigestable food. Maya had recently lost her ring, after 15 years of marriage, and despite searching high and low they were unable to find it. Now they knew why.

Maya got her diamond ring back, and after Danny washed it off well, she was willing to put it back on her finger.
(source: Ynet)

Not quite Yosef Mokir Shabbos...






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This is pretty cool. With our luck though, it will probably eventually become the source of more anti-semitism and/or UN condemnations.

An asteroid was recently named, by the International Astronomical Union, after the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Pretty cool. Thanks Dr. David and Wendee Levy for that honor and recognition.

From MSN:

The asteroid 271,763 was discovered by Dr David H Levy and Wendee Levy from Arizona, and Tom Glinos from Canada. Levy is famous for his co-discovery of the Comet ShoemakerLevy 9, which collided with the planet Jupiter in 1994 in the first collision of two solar system bodies ever observed.
Levy wanted to name an asteroid after the Hebrew University since completing a PhD at its English Department in June 2010.
After rejecting the originally proposed name "Hebrewuniversity" as being too long, the IAU''s Committee on Small Body Nomenclature later accepted the university''s nickname "Hebrewu" and the asteroid''s name was announced on November 2, 2012.
In his initial outreach to the university, Levy said, "congratulations on being one of the few universities to be honoured with a world in space. We have wanted to do this ever since I was awarded a PhD in June 2010 by the Hebrew University, one of the leading research institutions in the world".
"Perhaps someday the university, which I am proud to call an alma mater, will be able to put this new piece of real estate to good academic use. In the meantime, it is a world with sunrises and sunsets, much smaller but similar to our own," Levy said.
"The Hebrew University is delighted by Dr Levy''s extraordinary gesture and proud to join the exclusive list of institutions whose names are recorded among the stars," University President Menahem Ben-Sasson said in a statement.
It is estimated that less than 20 universities worldwide have an asteroid named after them.
According to astronomer Paul Chodas of NASA''s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the asteroid has a diameter of just under two kilometers.
Located in the asteroid belt that stretches between the orbit of Mars and Jupiter, Hebrewu poses no threat to the Earth and is not expected to draw near any time soon.

They say it poses no threat to Earth, but we all know that one day an asteroid will come hurtling down at Planet Earth, and they will now be able to say it is Israel's fault. and if not, someone will make a movie out of it and use the Hebrewu asteroid as its subject. (humor)

While a flood, as a result of Hurricane Sandy, caused a movie production set filming the story of Noah's Ark to be shut down so the 450 foot long ark would not get ruined, another newly completed model of Noah's Ark seems to do just fine in the water.



The National Post has the story:

Just as the first storms of winter roll in, Dutchman Johan Huibers has finished his 20-year quest to build a full-scale, functioning model of Noah’s Ark — an undertaking of, well, biblical proportions.
Huibers, a Christian, used books 6-9 of Genesis as his inspiration, following the instructions God gives Noah down to the last cubit.
Translating to modern measurements, Huibers came up with a vessel that works out to a whopping 427 feet (130 metres) long, 95 feet (29 metres) across and 75 feet (23 metres) high. Perhaps not big enough to fit every species on Earth, two by two, as described in the Bible, but plenty of space, for instance, for a pair elephants to dance a tango.
Johan’s Ark towers across the flat Dutch landscape and is easily visible from a nearby highway where it lies moored in the city of Dordrecht, just south of Rotterdam.
Gazing across the ark’s main hold, a huge space of stalls supported by a forest of pine trees, visitors gaze upon an array of stuffed and plastic animals, such as buffalo, zebra, gorillas, lions, tigers, bears, you name it. Elsewhere on the ark is a petting zoo with actual live animals that are less dangerous or easier to care for — such as ponies, dogs, sheep, and rabbits — and an impressive aviary of exotic birds.
“This boat — it’s amazing,” said Alfred Jongile, visiting from South Africa with his Dutch wife.
[...]
Johan’s Ark also contains a restaurant on the topmost level and a movie theatre capable of seating 50 people. Around the edges of each level of the craft are displays on ancient Middle Eastern history and dress, scenes from the life of Noah, and games for kids, including water pumps and a system of levers to lift bales of hay.
Down below there is a honeycomb system of hatches, each opening into an area where food could be sealed in for long-term storage.
There is an outdoor space near the stern with a dizzying series of stairwells. Walking around, Johan points out features such as the curvature of the upper deck, which he said would have been used to collect rainwater for drinking, as well as for letting animals such as horses out to exercise where they could run around.
Another visitor, Martin Konijn, said he was impressed with the level of detail.
“You might know the story of Noah, okay, but if you see this you begin to get an idea of how it would actually have worked in practice.”
Huibers says he’s considering where to take the floating attraction next, including European ports or even across the Atlantic — though the latter would require transport aboard an even bigger ship.
But Huibers is also working on a new dream, perhaps even more unlikely than the first one: he wants to get Israelis and Arabs to co-operate and build a water pipeline from the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea.
“If you have faith, anything is possible,” he says.