tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88143478304118792932024-02-19T11:42:26.973+02:00Eric Moves to IsraelStay tuned about my aliyah to Israel. Aliyah: literally "ascent;" Jewish immigration to the State of IsraelEric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-53893795675570255922024-01-09T07:44:00.002+02:002024-01-09T08:10:01.330+02:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8qJIaFArBTg" width="320" youtube-src-id="8qJIaFArBTg"></iframe></div><br />Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-66721277899695271802023-11-02T08:01:00.004+02:002023-11-02T08:01:45.321+02:00Rangers! Finally World Series Champs!! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OhkDhL5LbR8" width="320" youtube-src-id="OhkDhL5LbR8"></iframe></div>Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-36600905847198782472023-10-31T15:38:00.004+02:002023-10-31T19:20:03.950+02:00Week 4 of War<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Been awhile, this one's a little long.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">We're grinding along. One soldier was rescued last night from Hamas captivity, another died in service defending our North. </p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">A friend's nephew was murdered on October 7. A grad school classmate/colleague in elder care's aunt and uncle, themselves older adults, were as well. </p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">We mourn and pray for the return of all the rest of our captives and do our best to keep on truckin.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><b><u>What to Pray For - Part 2:</u></b><br /></p><ul dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><li>Pray for the mental health professionals (including my lovely wife). Those providing care are themselves mourning, anxious, fearful - experiencing the whole gamut of emotions. May G-d help them to help their clients, supervisees, etc. </li><li>Pray that my people of Israel never undergo this terror again.</li><li>Pray that G-d perform miracles enabling those who are risking their lives to ensure this never happens again to completely succeed in their mission.</li></ul><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">Our entire nation is one big miracle, all the way back to Abraham and Sarah (in this week's Torah portion, VaYeira) miraculously giving birth to Isaac in their ripe old age. Please keep the miracles coming!</span><br /><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">From the Artscroll commentary on last week's Torah portion, Lech Lecha:</span><br style="text-align: left;" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><i style="text-align: left;">As the story of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs unfolds, we see that infertility was common among them, but that prayer and Divine intervention resulted in the emergence of the nation. This was G-d's way of proving that the Jewish people are not a natural phenomenon; without miracles we could not have existed, nor could we continue to exist. </i><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">Ain't that the truth.</span><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"></p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Please of course keep up the prayers I asked for in my last post. About that post, Yossi Klein Halevi (link to his TOI piece below) wrote a book "Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor." So along those lines, with my high school friend Lauren's permission (she also quoted me in her blog back in the day!), I bring you the first installment of: <br /><br /><b>"Emails with my Presbyterian High School Friend." </b></p><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><i>Sammy -<br />Just wanted to write and tell you that we are continuing to pray and remember and cry out to God on your behalf. Goodness, the words in your blog, "Our Father, Our King, accept - with compassion and favor - our prayer." What beautiful words.<br /><br />I’m doing a bible study on some of the Psalms right now, and this week we read Psalm 5 which starts like this: <br /><br />“Give ear to my words, O LORD;<br />consider my groaning.<br />Give attention to the sound of my cry,<br />my King and my God,<br />for to you do I pray.<br />O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice…”<br /><br />The assurance of: “You hear my voice” is so powerful.<br /><br />So we are praying and trusting that Our Father and Our King hears our voices as we cry out to Him.<br /><br />There are lots of conversations happening that are making me reconsider the privilege I have - as someone who does not feel persecuted (at least here in Dallas, TX) for my faith. It breaks my heart to see my friend write the words, “The world hates Jews.” I cannot comprehend what it feels like to type those words, so I want to make sure you know without a doubt that you (and your beautiful family!) are loved and worthy and valued, and that the world is a better place - my life is more full - to have a friend like you. I am so grateful for years of friendship and conversations about how we both walk out our faiths. You are a gift to me, Sammy.</i></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><i>Praying for light to shine in the darkness. For love to have the final word. And for the Rangers to win.</i></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /></div><div dir="ltr">Lauren - as I wrote "the world hates Jews," I thought of you. I knew that would be painful for you to read. Your reply was just so thoughtful and gorgeous and so appreciated.</div><div dir="ltr">But, alas, after all these years watching the world do its anti-Semitic thing time after time, knowing what was coming this time... shoot, I honestly felt numb when I typed that. I'm gonna even make it into TWHJ to tighten it up in future reference here. There is no other explanation.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">But here's to that light and love winning out, and yes the RANGERS BABY!!!</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">--</div><div dir="ltr">Why did I lose it a few weeks ago upon reading "Our Father, Our King, accept - with compassion and favor - our prayer"? Let's look at some of these requests to our King. Nobody had any illusions that our haters' designs needed nullifying, that our enemies' counsel needed thwarting (heck, the day I moved here, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made one of his infinite statements about how Iran would destroy us). But these (full prayer book text at bottom)?</div><div dir="ltr"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Exterminate captivity, destruction, iniquity and eradication (aka the Holocaust) from the members of Your covenant.</li><li>Take pity upon us, and upon our children and our infants.</li><li>Act for the sake of those who were murdered for Your Holy Name.</li><li>Act for the sake of those who were slaughtered for your Oneness.</li><li>Act for the sake of those who went into fire and water for the sanctification of Your Name.</li><li>Avenge before our eyes the spilled blood of Your servants.</li></ul></div><div dir="ltr">Israel was founded to render these requests irrelevant (certainly at the kind of scale of October 7, at the bare minimum), first as recent history from the Holocaust. As the 7.5+ decades passed, harking back to Sukkot, just 5 weeks ago, before this war, it felt like these things were only relics out of the history books, things that could never happen to us again. But they did.</div><div dir="ltr">And as our citizens mourn... our soldiers are out there, spread all across our beloved, beautiful, holy land, looking clearheadedly into the future and giving everything they've got to make it a glorious one.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">That brings me back to a 2006 Birthright trip that I staffed. These groups, bringing young Jewish adults from around the world to Israel, always include about a handful of Israeli soldiers.</div><div dir="ltr">I'll never forget what my Israel Defense Forces soldier roommate, his emotions riled up as he experienced seeing Israel "for the first time" again along with the American bus-mates, said to me as we watched my Mavs' lose in the NBA Finals - "I LOVE this land! I would die for this land." He said that to me in the very corner of this beautiful land that was scorched by Hamas terrorists on October 7.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">Some 200,000 Israelis have flown back here, with that love of land and nation etched all over their hearts and souls. Each one of them is our answer to Hamas, who believed they were on the cusp of either murdering us all, or watching the rest of us run away screaming and crying. This is our land, world. We're staying here, more than that - we're coming back. Don't mess.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">--</div><div dir="ltr">Times like these, so very trying for us, help clarify the importance of emotional intelligence when reaching out to loved ones who are suffering. </div><div dir="ltr">From Rabbi Zelig Pliskin's "Growth through Torah", about last week's Torah portion: <br /><i>The Almighty told Abraham to travel away from his father's home, his birthplace, and his land. Only now when he personally experiences being a stranger in a foreign place will he know firsthand what it is like. This will give him a greater appreciation of what he can do to help his guests...</i></div><div dir="ltr"><i><br /></i></div><div dir="ltr"><i>Whenever you personally suffer any kind of pain or sorrow, remember carefully every aspect of your experience. When other people are in similar situations, you will know with greater depth what they are experiencing. This will help you to help them with greater sensitivity and kindness. Moreover, it will make your own suffering easier to cope with. You will view it as a meaningful learning experience that will assist you in becoming more effective in helping others</i></div><div dir="ltr"><i><br /></i></div><div dir="ltr">I so appreciate all of you checking in.</div><div dir="ltr">My brother from another mother and former roommate, Rabbi David Fain, struck a chord when he checked back in with me this week with this message: <i>"prayers are with you my brother! Stay strong"</i></div><div dir="ltr">That's an emotionally intelligent man telling me - "This is Week 4. I know this is hard for you. I got ya." Love you too Dave!</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">--</div><div dir="ltr">A few words about my family's part in the war effort:</div><div dir="ltr"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Over the last 3 Shabbats, we've hosted for meals 3 families with a combined 3 husbands and 3 sons called up to reserve duty and out defending our land.</li><li>When we're cooking for said meals (that's me grilling), we make a little extra as a nice treat and deliver to a celiac soldier whose gluten-free army grub is less than ideal.<br /><br /></li><li>In wartime, the most trivial things turn into defiant acts of Zionism. Our economy is hurting. Just going to the supermarket or the fruit stand is our small part in keeping our beloved country going. </li><li>Last week I celebrated at my friend's son's Bar Mitzvah, which didn't go as planned, but was nonetheless a raucous celebration of his coming of age, of our tradition, of our land.</li><li>Focus on family and supporting the wife and kids is always my main thing, even more so now. That's my role here in a nutshell.</li></ul></div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">We are so blessed. I am here, getting amazing quality time with my family, all sorts of extra hugs and cuddles. So so so many of our brothers and sisters are not - either tragically never will again, or will be missing husbands/dads/sons (mostly men; we do have one female friend who volunteered to serve) for probably many months. My last post was on the 20th anniversary of my 3:43 performance in the Chicago Marathon! We're running, as my kids would say, a super-muper marathon. </div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">Our evil incarnate enemy that we seek to destroy doesn't have to worry about scaling their startups, or developing their social services. They have an economy of death and destruction that's given a blank check by the likes of Iran and Qatar.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">Our effort to destroy them means so many of our software engineers, teachers, you name it have to hit pause on all that to focus their skills, talents and genius against the evil.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">Hey enemies - we're not only smarter than you, better than you, we're also WAY better at multi-tasking than you. Those loving fathers and husbands spread love to their families, students, coworkers. And yea, kick tuchus (to quote my wife) on the battlefield.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">--</div><div dir="ltr">Recommended reading:</div><div dir="ltr">Aforementioned Halevi piece on how <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/what-this-war-is-about/">he frames the war</a>, also oh boy TWHJ - <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-is-israel-being-blamed-for-the-hamas-massacre/">blaming us for our own massacre</a>.</div><div dir="ltr">Yedidia Stern's suggestion to call this the <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-genesis-war/">Genesis War</a>.</div><div dir="ltr">My friend Sara Hirschhorn on the <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/something-is-rotten-in-the-state-of-academe/">rotten state of affairs on campuses</a>. About that, 20+ years ago at Michigan, I got treated to a weekly diatribe against Israel disguised as an "Op-ed" in the student paper, hateful anti-Israel protests, and the big winner: someone took a key to Israel on the globe at the Ugli (undergrad library) and wiped it out, then did the same with a marker in the atlas.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">My classmates back then probably have their own kids now in the same dorms and classrooms, with a decades-long heaping of anti-Semitism surely leading them to celebrate evil incarnate.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">As for the Samantha Woll (we overlapped at U of M) murder investigation, it seems WAY too convenient for that to be coincidental in a metro area awash with Hamas celebrations. I hope I'm wrong (how awful is that to hope for a random murder), but I highly doubt it.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">So much attention has justly been placed on our murdered and kidnapped babies and children. University of Haifa professor Issi Doron, a huge leader in Israel's gerontology world and an elder law expert, has started <a href="https://www.oldlivesmatter.info/">Older Lives Matter</a>, an initiative to shine light on the older adult victims of Hamas crimes.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">Along with the prior running recommendation to read David Horovitz pieces on Times of Israel, I recommend everything by: </div><div dir="ltr"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Palestinian journalist <a href="https://gatestoneinstitute.org/author/Khaled+Abu+Toameh">Khaled Abu Toameh</a></li><li>Friend from Chicago <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/israels-siege-of-hamas-is-no-war-crime-da6f5659">Eugene Kontorovich</a></li></ul></div><div dir="ltr">If you do take my recommendation and financially support Times of Israel, I'd love to hear that you did. They are doing such crucial wartime work and, again, really deserve it. </div><div dir="ltr">In addition to the many pieces I already mentioned, of note are their ongoing special sections: <br /><a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/collection/those-we-are-missing/">Those we are missing</a>, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/collection/those-we-have-lost/">Those we have lost</a>, and <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/collection/those-we-call-heroes/">Those we call heroes</a>.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">I'll wrap up with a very timely Israeli love song, from Danny Sanderson - in my eyes Israel's Paul McCartney, the brainchild behind Kaveret, the closest thing we had to The Beatles. This one goes out to the love of my life:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yhO3JRf2_o4" width="320" youtube-src-id="yhO3JRf2_o4"></iframe></div><br /><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">לא יפריד דבר בינינו לעד</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">גם אם העולם ייפסק ביום אחד</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">מקומי תמיד יהיה לצידך</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">לאורך כל הדרך אני אהובך</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">את תמיד היית הכל בשבילי</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">בזכותך למדתי מה ומי אני</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">מתנה כזאת של פעם בחיים</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">צריך לשמור עליה עולמי עולמים</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">הנהר סוחף אותנו ישא</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">אין לדעת לאן</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">או את אורכו של המסע</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">וכשנגיע אומר בוודאי</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">זו הנסיעה של חיי</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">גשר מזהב סלול אל ליבך</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">מחבר את שנינו</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">בכל אשר נלך</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">ברוחות הקור סופות וגשמים</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">אני צמוד אלייך עולמי עולמים</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">הנהר סוחף אותנו ישא...</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">לא יפריד דבר בינינו לעד...</span></div><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Nothing will ever keep us apart</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Even if the world ends in one day (<i>it certainly has felt like the world is ending twice now in our last few years together - Covid and now this war)</i></span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">My place will always be next to you</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">All along the way I'm your love</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">You were always everything to me</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Thanks to you, I learned what and who I am</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">A gift like that that's once in a lifetime</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">You gotta hold onto, forever and ever</span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><div dir="ltr">The river will carry us away</div><div dir="ltr">There's no way to know where</div><div dir="ltr">Or the length of the journey</div><div dir="ltr">And when we arrive, I'll say, of course</div><div dir="ltr">This is the ride of my life</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">A golden bridge is paved to your heart</div><div dir="ltr">Connecting us both</div><div dir="ltr">Wherever we go</div><div dir="ltr">In the cold wind, storms and rain</div><div dir="ltr">I am by your side forever and ever</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1-q53imuFudbH_FuUH0df_AugT0wrQckEooFlNutBlxH8zvnzR0YXLeIftFKWGlo68IvfFruTu-U8vJh90TIZzXHgDGpXEDg3KBS3AfQgGr0xeQkl3QIQcR4yv-z1btIuVwKn1DNrz_ttPxAo3SqOnwN_zlcmEoly-uf9MNSabb-I7gzN-2oj-oZ-QyL/s4032/PXL_20231031_104427046.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1-q53imuFudbH_FuUH0df_AugT0wrQckEooFlNutBlxH8zvnzR0YXLeIftFKWGlo68IvfFruTu-U8vJh90TIZzXHgDGpXEDg3KBS3AfQgGr0xeQkl3QIQcR4yv-z1btIuVwKn1DNrz_ttPxAo3SqOnwN_zlcmEoly-uf9MNSabb-I7gzN-2oj-oZ-QyL/s320/PXL_20231031_104427046.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FuthpxavmJnYI45PytQ8Ge27oSO0XaEE2SEAJAXPztZR6n3kboiC7sySBG_uvt4RoQoylOJvGhtiGw0BZf1jJB7-0b05_JGgFBCASLI4a96gF2Ys0EBPhFr52Ss7aWiJ678EzWxK3KBDLsae9RYa0xTVE0pJWFIf5p46NIPkMLLETi5vszHazfQq-bnY/s4032/PXL_20231031_104445092.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FuthpxavmJnYI45PytQ8Ge27oSO0XaEE2SEAJAXPztZR6n3kboiC7sySBG_uvt4RoQoylOJvGhtiGw0BZf1jJB7-0b05_JGgFBCASLI4a96gF2Ys0EBPhFr52Ss7aWiJ678EzWxK3KBDLsae9RYa0xTVE0pJWFIf5p46NIPkMLLETi5vszHazfQq-bnY/s320/PXL_20231031_104445092.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div dir="ltr"><br /></div></span></span></div></div>Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-41480997217331311632023-10-18T12:40:00.001+03:002023-10-18T12:40:29.112+03:00GO RANGERS - SUPPORT ISRAEL <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IHl6PnXvOgI" width="320" youtube-src-id="IHl6PnXvOgI"></iframe></div><br /><p></p>Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-71293719087684449582023-10-12T22:56:00.001+03:002023-10-12T23:11:09.421+03:00What to pray for<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Thank you again so much for the incredible waves upon waves of support, far and wide. That includes everyone who's calling my mom to check in. It means so much to me and my family.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">My wife mentioned yesterday that an Israeli Rabbi had suggested including the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avinu_Malkeinu">Avinu Malkeinu </a></i>(Our Father, Our King) prayer during this war. Anyone who's been to services for the High Holy Days (Rosh Hashana - the new year, and Yom Kippur - the day of atonement), knows - and feels - the famous, melancholy minor melody.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">At Rosh HaShana the year I made <i>aliyah</i> (emigrated) to Israel, hosted by my friend Mordechai McKenney at his Jerusalem <i>yeshiva </i>(Jewish academy of learning), I adopted my first-ever favorite verse:<br />אבינו מלכנו, הרם קרן ישראל עמך - Our Father, Our King, raise high the pride of Israel, Your people.<br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">As I met the love of my life, the most incredible person I've ever met, and we subsequently created our beautiful family with the addition of our native Israeli kids, I changed that to:<br />אבינו מלכנו, מלא ידינו מברכותיך - Our Father, Our King, fill our hands from Your blessings.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Reading these prayers yesterday, I totally lost it. Especially this one:<br />אבינו מלכנו, קבל ברחמים וברצון את תפילתנו - Our Father, Our King, accept - with compassion and favor - our prayer. </p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">I lift my head to Hashem, G-d, please, accept these prayers with compassion and favor.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">--</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Thank G-d we're doing fine.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">The soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces need your prayers.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">I know many of these guys quite closely. I know of no one in the world who I would rather have to fight this war, to defeat this evil incarnate, rearing its ugly head - <i>again - </i>in 2023.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Hamas won the first day, one of the most mind-boggling series of failures any government and military command have ever made. There were inspirational stories of heroism among the endless stories of horrors of horrors. </p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">But as one man who successfully defended his small town said - in the Middle East, you can't rely on good defense. This ain't the San Antonio Spurs with a "defense wins championship" motto. So we will come after you now and win this war.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">In every prior conflict with Hamas in Gaza, we have been too surgical. We let this cancer fester for too long.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">--</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Back to that failure of our leadership. </p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">In early 2021, the Economist ran a special podcast dubbed The Jab, about the COVID-19 vaccine release. Every week, I took so much pride when their musical chart sounding out who had most swiftly vaccinated their populations had my little Israel at #1, every week. We protected our older adults, our women and then our children, like no other country in the world.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">2 and a half years later, this happened to our women, our children, and our older adults.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">But again back to those IDF soldiers. That's where my trust is when the leaders failed us.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">But now Bibi, and Yoav Gallant must redeem themselves and win this war. Thank G-d they brought on another experienced voice of reason from the opposition in Benny Gantz.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">--</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Allow me to frame this war for you.<br />This is the continuation of the War of Independence from 75+ years ago. We came here to create the reborn state for the Jewish people in our eternal homeland. And we're still fighting to keep it.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Hamas truly believes that they are on the cusp of killing us all, or if that fails, of driving whoever's left out of our homeland crying and screaming. They are dead wrong.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">As for the perfectly blessed distraction of my remarkable Texas Rangers, dominating their way into their third ever ALCS (semifinals for the non-baseball types),<br />I have been waiting four and a half decades to see my favorite team bring home their first ever title.<br />Hamas thinks I won't make it that long. (Don't have any illusions though, anywhere I would be in the world, they'd want me dead there too. Let's all put up another prayer to keep my people safe worldwide).</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Now go put up your prayers and we'll all prove this pure evil wrong together. (And no, I have no illusions - as amazing as Texas has been, this still may not be their year).<br />But they're giving me a dang good ride! Adolis kept providing my kids with great material in Game 3 - the <a href="https://youtu.be/zyWuwvCUgyU?feature=shared&t=194">Rolling Stones tongue and the finger shimmy</a>!!!</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">And back to reality... since the last post, my friend's brother-in-law fell in battle, valiantly defending Sderot.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">--</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Now, a word for anyone who's confused, doesn't know who to believe, etc.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">This is a battle between good and evil incarnate (big surprise - those are the ones who lie). There's nothing to equivocate about. You wanna equivocate? Go do that in your own little Equivocating about Israel club and please get out of my way.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">I am nauseated to even have to waste my energy typing this, but, well, the world hates Jews, so here goes:<br />We have a friend who's a nurse in the pediatric ER of a hospital in the south. She saw the most unthinkable, unimaginable horrors there since Saturday. <br />We're telling the truth, they're lying murderers. Simple as that.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">--</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">So now we brace for what's not gonna be a short war. We pray for miracles of a swift defeat. But today is already the symbolic-around-here day 6 (ala the miraculous victory in 1967), and this war hasn't started yet.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Please keep writing! If I don't respond, know that I feel your love and appreciate it so much.</p>Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-67072152258861769892023-10-09T17:23:00.005+03:002023-10-09T17:50:22.561+03:00Dark days<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Israel's national worst nightmare has come to pass. There are no words to describe it.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">The support of friends and family has brought me to the verge of tears. We feel your love and really need it right now.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">I don't have a ton to say other than thank you!<br />And thanks also to my Texas Rangers, whose futility as a franchise has been a big part of my life for most of the life of the franchise. They and my family are about the only thing keeping me sane, with two HUGE wins in Baltimore, the first interspersed with the worst day of my dear country's history.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">I've been using my sports teams as a distraction from geopolitical tension for decades, and it's given me some amazing excitement to share with the kids (we watch the highlights together the next day - lots of Rangers highlights these days, as well as Michigan football this season). </p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Watching the highlights (the games I just listen to on the radio feed, especially enjoying the local legend Eric Nadel, calling Rangers games since I was born) takes me to this surreal parallel universe, where life is normal right now. </p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">And then I go back to following what's happening (all you really need to read is David Horovitz's columns on <a href="http://timesofisrael.com">Times of Israel</a> - he is an amazing man (was lucky to meet him twice) and journalist. If you're able to support the website financially, they deserve it in a big way). So far I've heard of the nephew of someone who goes to my synagogue being killed in battle. And a friend's colleague's family of 5, all murdered. And a former colleague's husband recovering in the hospital after being wounded and undergoing surgery.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">And I dread when I'll (probably) hear of someone I know first-hand...</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Anyway, my son is calling me to go watch the Game 2 highlights! It's been a busy day - I still haven't seen Mitch Garver's grand slam!!!</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Lots of love and here's to the win that actually matters: a swift victory by my brothers and sisters in the Israel Defense Forces over Hamas and their evil brethren. Amen</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">P.S. My son's favorite part was Adolis's chest bump and fist kiss (cued up <a href="https://youtu.be/GTnmx_p4TJ0?feature=shared&t=208">here</a>) after his RBI hit in the 2nd</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">P.S.S. Feel free to subscribe to this for updates</p>Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-65075243164155485022023-08-18T01:22:00.012+03:002023-08-20T17:38:12.422+03:00דרוש תיקון - ישראל היא גילנית<div class="Ar Au Ao" id=":2bg"><div aria-controls=":2rh" aria-label="גוף ההודעה" aria-multiline="true" aria-owns=":2rh" class="Am Al editable LW-avf tS-tW tS-tY" g_editable="true" hidefocus="true" id=":272" itacorner="6,7:1,1,0,0" role="textbox" spellcheck="false" style="direction: rtl; min-height: 614px;" tabindex="1"><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">סוף הקיץ. הקייטנות נגמרות. חופשות. הילדים משתגעים.</p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">במרכזי יום לאזרחים ותיקים, פשוט עובדים כל השנה. אין דבר כזה חופשת קיץ. <br style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;" />כשהצגתי תכנית עבודה לליאור שטרסברג, מנכ"ל עמותת מטב (ובהיות מטב ארגון גדול ומקצועי בתחום הסיעוד והזיקנה, ליאור הוא אחד האנשים המובילים בארץ בתחום) הוא שאל אותי - "אם תפתח את מרכז יום מצפה רמון בשבת, יגיעו?" תהיתי לשתי שניות, ועניתי "בהחלט". זה שירות חיוני ומתן השירות ללא ספק מהווה פיקוח נפש. חברתי לעבודה בעבר, רויטל סגרון יעקב, תמצאתה את ה<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8814347830411879293/6859858467887032221#">חיוניות של מרכזי היום בפוסט בפייסבוק</a> מהשבוע ועל ההשפעה האדירה של המרכזים על עשרות אלפי אזרחים ותיקים.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAdCnVpcNqiGTjv_OPjAV8MfMn1zSb8CVtljKsPrlkrCrws5GLkGczjARREaReKCFGV623u6_cz9J_UC5PmBEUkpj3rD-KmlgWrEPa2H77DMr4G-p3-ixy44pbrmcDKoHvQNstjb1ItQsAImJPNeHE-s-dH7qb-qwNNTXwlnCRS-VI79F8D8XWmNvaIWw8/s480/Nehora.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="480" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAdCnVpcNqiGTjv_OPjAV8MfMn1zSb8CVtljKsPrlkrCrws5GLkGczjARREaReKCFGV623u6_cz9J_UC5PmBEUkpj3rD-KmlgWrEPa2H77DMr4G-p3-ixy44pbrmcDKoHvQNstjb1ItQsAImJPNeHE-s-dH7qb-qwNNTXwlnCRS-VI79F8D8XWmNvaIWw8/s320/Nehora.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span color="initial">אני עם צוות מרכז יום נהורה לפני כמעט 20 שנה</span></div><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span color="initial">אף אחד לא ביקש את השניקל שלי לגבי השביתה של מרכזי יום ברחבי הארץ שנערכה שלשום 15/8, אבל החלטתי לרשום את דעתי בכל זאת. במשך 7 שנים, שמיטה שלמה, ניהלתי שני מרכזי יום מאוד שונים: ב-2015-2017 את מרכז היום הגדול של העמותה למען הקשיש בית שמש, וב-2017-2021 את המרכז הרב תחומי בהפעלת עמותת מטב במצפה רמון. אני גאה לציין שכוח העל שלי בתפקיד היה ניהול תקציב.</span></p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">באחד הימים מספר חודשים לפני סוף התקופה שלי במצפה, בעקבות עיכוב בקבלת הארכת אישור כיבוי אש (סיפור ארוך ומתסכל), נאלצנו לסגור ליום אחד את המרכז. עבורי זה היה השפל של כל 7 השנים. הזוג שמפקידים להגיע כל יום נאלצו לאכול כוסות מנה חמה (ועוד הרבה סיפורים עצובים) בגלל פשלה אדמיניסטרטיבית. נשבר לי הלב.</p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">כל מרכזי היום ברחבי הארץ סגרו את הדלתות בסגר הראשון של הקורונה באביב 2020 לכמעט 3 חודשים. לא היה צורך בשום מחקר כדי להבין - האזרחים הוותיקים הלכו אחרת אחרי התקופה הזו - אם עד אז הגיעו כל יום למרכז יום והשתתפו בחוג פעילות גופנית, אכלו ארוחות בצוותא עם חבריהם, תפסו תאוצה של שנים כדי להגיע למצב פיזי מסוים; אז ברור שהם הלכו לאחור בגדול בגלל המצאיות הבודדת שהפכה תוך לילה אחד למציאות החדשה.</p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">אמנם מדובר שלשום על שביתת אזהרה בת יום אחד, אבל כל יום ללא הבית השני של מבקרי המרכזים מזיק. מאוד.</p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">לכן הסקירה הדלה בלשון המעטה של התקשורת על יום השביתה חסר התקדים <b style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">ממש מכאיב ומכעיס</b>. בחיפוש גוגל אין שום פולו-אפ מאז יום השביתה. (כמעט) כאילו לא קרה. האמת כואבת - <b style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">אנחנו חיים בחברה גילנית מאוד</b>, שכמעט ולא מתעניין בכלל במצב הלא יציב של מרכזי היום - מסגרת קסומה ששינתה אין ספור חיים של גם עשרות אלפי מקבלי השירות וגם צוותי המרכזים. אישית, התקופה שלי כמתנדב במרכז היום במושב נהורה ובבית פרנקפורטר בירושלים ב-2005 ללא ספק גרמה לי להחליט לעלות לארץ כדי להביא ערך מוסף לאזרחים ותיקים ישראלים. מליאת התפקיד במשך 7 שנים היה חלום מטורף שלי מבחינה ציונית ובתור בעל תואר שני בגרונטולוגיה מאוני' בן גוריון.</p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">להלן המסקנות שלי על "השביתה לאן":</p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">1. <b style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">ישראל <u style="color: initial;">חייבת. דחוף.</u><span color="initial"> </span>למסד גוף שידאג לאוכלוסייה המבוגרת </b>בסגנון ה-<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8814347830411879293/6859858467887032221#">AARP</a> האמריקאית<b style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">. </b>מהדף בקישור - העמותה הזו <b style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">מסנגרת </b>עבור הנושאים הבוערים ביותר של אזרחים ותיקים ומשפחותיהם: ביטחון בריאותי, יציבות כלכלית, ומימוש עצמי. העמותה נלחמת בחזית מול נבחרי הציבור ודואגת שאזרחים ותיקים לא יישארו מאחור, כמו שנשארו בגדול בארץ שלשום, ובכלל. </p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">ישראל אמנם חוקקה ב-1988 חוק מדהים, חוק סיעוד, שאומר שהמדינה תדאג לכל אזרח ותיק שזקוק למטפל/ת סיעודי/ת, והכניס לחוק את מרכזי היום, ועוד דירבנה אזרחים ותיקים לצאת מהבית למרכז יום תמורת 2 (או 2.75) שעות של חוק סיעוד, כשעוד מקבלים יום עשיר של 6 שעות.<br style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;" />אבל <b style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">זה לא מספיק. </b></p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">חוסר העניין באיתנות של מרכזי היום זה סימפטום. החברה הישראלית לוקחת את מגמת הגילנות (ageism) הרווחת במערב, ומוסיפה את ההידור של החייל בן ה-18-21, אשר מוסיף לדריסת מעמד זקני השבט, האנשים שהקימו את המדינה. גוף מקביל ל-AARP נחוץ ביותר כדי לדאוג שנבחרי הציבור יתמכו במסגרת הקסומה של מרכזי יום ועוד אין ספור מיזמים חשובים.</p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">2. <b style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">מרכזי היום לא יכולים להרשות לעצמם להתבייש לגייס משאבים. </b><br style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;" />תופעה כזו קיימת פחות או יותר, יותר או פחות - תלוי בגוף המפעיל.</p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">זורק פה רעיון - לגייס תורם גדול שמעוניין בזיקנה ובאיכות הסביבה. מגייס תרומה עבור <b style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">התקנת פאנלים סולאריים </b>על גגי מרכזי היום (לפחות בשני המרכזים שניהלתי, מתאים מאוד).<br style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;" />התורם מבסוט שתרם לאיכות הסביבה, וגם לאיתנות הכלכלית של שירות חיוני שנמצא בקשיים.<br style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;" />ומרכז היום לא רק מוריד סעיף תקציבי של חשבון החשמל, אלא <b style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">מרוויח</b> כל חודשיים "משכורת" מחברת החשמל על החשמל שהוא מוכר חזרה אליה. ואם המבנה שייך לרשות המקומית, אפשר להסתדר עם זה, הרי כולם תמיד אוהבים Win-win.<br /></p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">בונים קומה חדשה? הגג תפוס? אז אולי לבדוק תרומת רכב חשמלי לטובת ההסעות. כולם חוסכים בדלק, ויהיה אפשר לנשום יחסית לרווחה (תרתי משמע). </p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">יש עוד מלא אופציות דומות כדי לשפר את המצב הכלכלי של המרכזים.</p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">3. יש לי עוד מה להגיד. מי שמעוניינים, אפשר לבקש את ההמשך ב-WhatsApp או <a href="mailto: esamuels@gmail.com">במייל</a>.</p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span color="initial" style="text-decoration-color: initial;">חודש טוב ושבת שלום</span></p><p style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><i style="color: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">נ.ב. אני עובד כבר כמה חודשים בהייטק ונהנה שם מאוד מאוד.</i></p></div></div>Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-25558742594097951612023-06-18T15:41:00.007+03:002023-06-29T14:56:29.880+03:00My 20-year career in elder care. It's a wrap!<div class="separator" dir="ltr" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiakeDxtCPQXY0DQwHgICE0iC02625fLgiBY7BMA006RxOx2w7zp2slEa_cFaRMAbkaqSunOpEKsqSQOq79xsZDl8ZZzRTebSJ3JME_4kV8eX9uVUOfZmLca-MFI5XUTI3XAWNyHAigK3fbzOtvopihtsg2mP-mxsFqIcMrhdVHamhs9r2HnmjU56z9-w/s705/Poppa.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiakeDxtCPQXY0DQwHgICE0iC02625fLgiBY7BMA006RxOx2w7zp2slEa_cFaRMAbkaqSunOpEKsqSQOq79xsZDl8ZZzRTebSJ3JME_4kV8eX9uVUOfZmLca-MFI5XUTI3XAWNyHAigK3fbzOtvopihtsg2mP-mxsFqIcMrhdVHamhs9r2HnmjU56z9-w/s320/Poppa.jpg" width="295" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">It all begins with visits to my grandparents in Ohio, and their visits to us in Texas. I especially connected with Poppa, whose smile here radiates his essence. Fun-loving, positive, gregarious, he showered us with love, and he had this <i>Yiddishe neshama </i>- a real Jewish soul. I adored him.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">He passed away when I was 12, leaving me grandparent-less.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">I filled that void at 18 in a first-year Psychology seminar at the University of Michigan called "Late Life Potential", and then at almost 19 when I fortuitously decided to join a Hillel (the major Jewish organization on college campuses) Alternative Spring Break at the Lieberman Center for Health and Rehabilitation in Skokie, IL (I continued as the site leader of this trip the next two years). Those volunteer trips cemented my future direction working alongside like-minded people to strive for the greater good of older adults.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">It took a year out of college to cement that direction, but when my friend (and prior participant from one of those Chicago volunteer trips) Jaime Goldberg got a promotion at Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly (Chicago branch), she told me to apply for her position as a Program Assistant there. That was 20 years ago, the summer of 2003.</div><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">I fell in love immediately with making elder care my full-time position - visiting predominantly African American and Latina older adults across the South Side (also coordinating the NPO's food bag program for seniors in need). Their story of urban music and culture deepened and personalized the connection to jazz and blues that my father gave me. Christine Bertrand, the Intergenerational Coordinator at Little Brothers and "adoptive mother" of the Program Assistants, was a true ambassador to the world of elder care, relentlessly encouraging us newbies to stick around in the field and make a career out of it. Needless to say, I heeded <i>that </i>call. </p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">The next year took me to volunteer mostly at adult day centers in Israel on OTZMA, a 10-month program bringing young North Americans to Israel. I was exposed to a model that is far more widely adapted here in Israel than in the US, which was simply magical. Older adults in need of any number of things were able to join their peers, play dominoes, sculpt with clay and do other artwork, travel the country (we went together to the Dead Sea), eat two delicious meals a day, and just celebrate life! The directors of the two centers that welcomed me (Avi Entebbe in Moshav Nehora and Sima Zini at Beit Frankforter in Jerusalem) seemed otherworldly in their commitment to their participants' wellbeing.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">When I returned to the US, I settled into a great position at a spinoff of Little Brothers called H.O.M.E. - Housing Opportunities and Maintenance for the Elderly - Volunteer Coordinator and Program Assistant under the Program Director Jan Takehara. I deepened my connection to minority populations in Chicago. But one Shavuot (the Jewish holiday that is (from Aish.com) "ironically a little-known holiday, given that it commemorates the single most important event in Jewish history – the <a href="https://aish.com/holidays/shavuot/sinai-experience/">giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai</a>"), I forgot to check my calendar and had scheduled a recruiting session for new clients for our weatherization program, which helped to keep apartments and houses warm in the winter. My recruiting efforts took place at an event put together by a nun, whose Caucasian-ness just stood out so starkly in a room of over 100 African American older adults. This nun gave her life and soul to enhance the lives of her beneficiaries. </p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Shortly thereafter, I got stuck in Houston on the way to staffing a Jewish youth group Shabbaton (weekend event). As my plane-mates were freaking out about the inexplicable delay, I worked on various exercises from the job-search book "What Color is Your Parachute?" I ended up gaining the longly-awaited clarity I had been searching for: I was meant to pursue a career in elder care in Israel, serving my people, those who overcame unthinkable challenges in order to found our reborn national homeland.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">15 years ago, July 2008, I left behind what seemed like a good stable job at H.O.M.E. and made <i>aliyah</i> (lit. ascended to / immigrated) to Israel. A number of months later, that position was eliminated due to the global financial crisis's impacts on their fundraising efforts. </p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">I pursued a Master's in Gerontology at Ben-Gurion University in the Negev - offering me the basics (Hebrew vocabulary in the elder care field), as well as amazing knowledge from the coursework, and connections to classmates and faculty that would prove priceless.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">My first full-time position was at Project La'ad (forever) of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Office for Senior Citizens (which has moved around a bunch in Israel's government since). I was the South region coordinator, helping train and supervise volunteers helping with rights clarification and documenting of life stories for Holocaust survivors. I especially enjoyed my work as the client-facing lead in distributing emergency funding to survivors in great financial need, as well as learning the nooks and crannies of my enormous geographic region, from Ashdod all the way to Eilat, our southernmost city.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">After a relatively brief stint of underemployment, my friend Louis Miller found a Yediot Acharonot (newspaper) ad for the position of Director of the prominent Adult Day Center in Beit Shemesh. After my experience volunteering under Avi and Sima, this opportunity to try to emulate them was no less than a dream job! My two years there were followed by five more in the same position in Mitzpe Ramon at Matav, the country's leading elder care non-profit, a very professional organization specializing in home health care, but also with a huge footprint in the field of adult day center management across the country.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">I was blessed to work with amazing staff members, doing incredibly holy work to serve the centers' participants. I put my stamp on these centers' services. I always remembered that Marion Perlmutter course at Michigan - Late Life Potential - and that served as a compass for my vision of these centers. A programming highlight was my fellow Dallasite and neighbor over the last several years brewing a batch of beer and giving a seminar and tasting in Mitzpe Ramon. </p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">After two years of managing the Mitzpe Ramon center under the COVID-19 pandemic (during which zero of our participants contracted the virus), and all of the resulting personal and family costs, it was time to find the next challenge.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">A close friend and former lecturer in graduate school, Doron Sagi, is doing amazing work as we speak to try to make the Gerontologist into more of a brand name in Israel. But as my search dragged on, my networking, multiple interviews for interesting positions, self-reflection and inventory of my strengths and fields that I didn't excel in failed to lead me to the next promised land, and my degree only reliably opened one door (to be a professional worker at a home health care agency, performing home visits and doing the paperwork for new caregivers - which I tried out, meeting incredible staff and older adults at Matav Arad, but which definitely did not play to my strengths)...</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">I decided to move on and try out some other pastures.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">My hats go off to Doron and everyone else who is fighting to make our degree a more reliable source for return on investment.<br />But I have a mortgage to pay. Right now. And then next month, and the month after that.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">So I will soon (belatedly) update about that exciting next step.<br />But today I thank each and every mentor, colleague, boss, staff member, lecturer in university and many other courses, and especially all of the older adults who bequeathed me such great wisdom that they amassed over their decades roaming the earth. I wouldn't trade these two decades for the world.</p>Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-56296206717801764232021-03-19T14:46:00.002+02:002021-03-21T08:42:09.619+02:00A love song to two of the most important people in my life<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Hi Dad,<br />Today's your 10th Hebrew <i>yahrtzeit</i>/אזכרה (anniversary of your passing). I can't believe you've been gone for a decade.<br />When you passed away, your fellow University of North Texas alum Marc Johnson's album "The Sound of Summer Running" was in Mom's car. Tradition is against this (תסלח לי ה'), but his song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwxYLBe8SGU">Union Pacific</a> came on as Mom and I pulled into your funeral. I eulogized you with this what I'm pretty sure you would have called "tasty" tune bouncing around in my step, fitting in my mind for the most optimistic person I ever met. I think it sounds a lot like your soul/נשמה (<i>neshama</i>).<br />I put some words to it for this occasion. You always took care of composing songs and providing us with our soundtrack, but sometimes you left the words to me (I wonder who named your songs Masa and Shalva). Sorry I didn't rhyme though - think you'll dig it anyway.<br />I remember like it was yesterday relating my dating frustrations to you as we crossed the Trinity River in the Turkey Trot. I kept looking for my perfect wife thanks to your love and faith and belief in me, which you expressed to me that day, and always.<br />On the way to work yesterday I pictured you playing the piano at our wedding, instead of an anonymous, if quite talented pianist. And I cried. What I would do for an evening around the piano with Racheli and the kids, Mom, Amy and her family. I can only imagine how much you would be raving about all of us.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">You used to pop into my dreams every so often. Haven't seen you there in ages.<br />I miss you with all my heart. On your first 2 <i>yahrtzeits </i>I put together memorial events with friends; both years I played breakup songs that (although that's awkward) really reflected my pain. Posting those YouTubes below. "Less, but it still hurts..." :I'll never get over you..."</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Love you Dad!</p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">-----------------------------</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><u>Wrapped up</u></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Running the Turkey Trot</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">8 miles around Downtown Big D</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">We’re running the Trot</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">My hopes were runnin’ low on that cold Thanksgiving Day</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 451px; overflow: hidden; width: 602px;"><img height="451" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_gPlIxij7zcUIbf57XnartBFqOOKMVMWiXXO5M0cJ5ZnQiPfV0DzgKCHRcquFM33ma4PhqxB5e1cZZM3hY74U9727t9_a6lir1aPwweMk2CBx8wFv_PrfWDOGsCa6PLCEEYYWrac" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="602" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Never forget it</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">“Don’t worry I know you’ll find her”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Wrapped up in all your love, all your faith, your belief I got something to give to that lucky lady somewhere</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking far and wide
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even crossed the ocean lookin for that heart
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then I met my love
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">She had me cracking up 1 minute into the very first date
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Check out that smile</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 451px; overflow: hidden; width: 602px;"><img height="451" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/t-qwmpUXDzqg7S3vd_SBA7YnLOru_SHhYKHxlmpu2VNvdDKNEFF92wROSgJYMluU82UNVSWJgb6Ellqntf9BNBUlmde3Q8jUZR18-I7f6Yc5by_paaA0Qecxbe4RGhnPuYZljN7q" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="602" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Can’t believe you never met her</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Wrapped up in all your love, all your faith, your belief I got something to give to that lucky lady right
here</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Halleluyah I just love her so much
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even forgave me when I drove to the WRONG ER
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">With all that love you gave me,
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I just have to pass it all right on
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">To these kiddos who we made
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">She’s the best wife and mom</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><img alt="תמונה שמכילה דשא, אדם, חוץ, שדה
התיאור נוצר באופן אוטומטי" height="540" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Coic_yF9-nt4vItUCJfmhdDWehMbITmu1GpP8af-Mf1tdmLjL7wkfkawl21L-hWOnyPnjgRK56rPNixA7VJ-ImPsSz-aTSZoE9pB3BSPsljdQPAcETPrwpxo0AtLI3LJmonjxdOG" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;" width="602" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">We’re so blessed and she gets more beautiful every single darn day</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">How does she do that?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Oh my G-d you would have loved her
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wrapped up in all your love, all your faith, your belief I got something to give to my רחלוש she’s right here</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UcdYF5Z7TZM" width="320" youtube-src-id="UcdYF5Z7TZM"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W10qFS050B0" width="320" youtube-src-id="W10qFS050B0"></iframe></div>Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-43967384276973601092016-05-11T20:42:00.001+03:002016-05-11T20:59:00.894+03:00we live in the coolest country in the world<div dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
It's been awhile, huh? Missed y'all!</div>
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Today we remember. <i>Yom HaZikaron,</i> our extremely somber Memorial Day. Two sirens (by night and by day), during a total of three bone-chilling minutes. We remember all of our citizens murdered in terrorist attacks, all of our soldiers who fell in battle. Over 26,000 Jews killed by those who wish we weren't here.</div>
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We remember all of our brothers and sisters.</div>
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But so much of the world forgets, whether intentionally or not. They forget that where we leave (South Lebanon, Gaza), in return we receive tens of thousands of rockets. I don't wish it on anyone to have to hear a different kind of siren, giving you notice to run to shelter, because a terrorist fired a rocket in the direction of your town.</div>
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The closest it has hit home for us is our sister-in-law's brother, who fell in 1991 in Lebanon (here's <a href="http://www.izkor.gov.il/HalalKorot.aspx?id=513278">Ronen's story</a>, for Hebrew readers). Most Israelis are only one or two degrees of separation away from having lost a loved one in war or terrorist attacks.<br />
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Israel remembers her fallen.</div>
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And now we'll switch to party mode for Independence Day - <i>Yom HaAtzmaut</i>.</div>
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We live in the coolest country in the world.</div>
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Exhibit א: Omer Avital and his band of ridiculously cool cats (dare you to try not to smile/bop your head back at them) -<br />
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Exhibit ב: a dad (Hanan Ben Ari) says to his kvetchy daughter, "we can't complain, our life is <i>Tutim</i>" (strawberries).<br />
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Exhibit ג: Moroccan Woman, Beit Shemesh-based bluesman Lazer Lloyd's ode to his North African wife.<br />
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In what I consider one of the greatest traditions in Jewish musical history, we're hoping to catch ב and ג tonight in the Holy City of Jerusalem in our millenia-old, renewed homeland. Those are just 2 of hundreds of artists playing around the country tonight FOR FREE to toast a happy 68th to our amazing, diverse, crazy country.</div>
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I'll add to the list from <i>Yom HaAtzmaut</i>s past:<br />
2005: David Broza (with fireworks going off of the roof of the building where we lived!)<br />
2010: Beit HaBubot, Monica Sex<br />
2012: that time when I missed Mati Caspi<br />
2013: Avraham Tal, Mati Caspi<br />
2014: Udi Davidi<br />
2015: Karolina<br />
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Thanks to Mom-in-law for watching D! Gotta run!</div>
Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-20940903620333493102013-01-22T21:43:00.001+02:002013-01-23T00:05:17.695+02:00Israel Decides 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I received some serious inspiration from both this incredible diary entry from <a href="http://www.lookstein.org/resources/elections/article.htm">Israel's first election in 1949</a>, and then a visit to the one-and-only Ester Golan (a dear friend from Jerusalem's Cafe Europa where I used to volunteer). Ester has now voted in all 19 of Israel's elections (!).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbfjVH5JKKKCEv6IkeJpTfHR6J2Xm3FZQP18eGZogCa5YMoJ8Lowog_uhzMNeqs9460z56VVIsS_Ag62a5qyjwegzZdPTlGagG1MqeLAQ7AOT5nBoVtGlieBoUHfateZleI5pFwndJiW1/s1600/IMG_0509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbfjVH5JKKKCEv6IkeJpTfHR6J2Xm3FZQP18eGZogCa5YMoJ8Lowog_uhzMNeqs9460z56VVIsS_Ag62a5qyjwegzZdPTlGagG1MqeLAQ7AOT5nBoVtGlieBoUHfateZleI5pFwndJiW1/s320/IMG_0509.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Here I am, aspiring to slowly catch up with Ester by voting for my second time. I took the lead of the author of the above journal entry and said the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shehecheyanu"><i>Shechiyanu </i>prayer</a> before placing my envelope into the old-school ballot box. What an incredible honor to take part in the Jewish state's election, to do so while wearing my grandpa's ring!<br />
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My first time around, I was both more confident in my vote and more public in even writing about it in the Chicago Jewish News (and of course my <a href="http://esamuels.xanga.com/692247264/not-what-i-was-hoping-for-tonight/">old blog</a>). This time I'll answer with the "no comment" approach.<br />
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I once again immensely enjoyed taking part in this year's campaign. Without a doubt the most hilarious moment was this <a href="http://www.mako.co.il/tv-erez-nehederet/770e3d99ade16110&subChannelId=0b79ae5f56e3c310VgnVCM2000002a0c10acRCRD&vcmid=aba9495cf9f3c310VgnVCM2000002a0c10acRCRD&sCh=b9c969d8e8e8b310&pId=902799682"><i>Eretz Nehederet</i> parody</a> of a disgustingly racist ad by the Sefardi Ultra-Orthodox Shas party.<br />
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On a more meaningful note, Ben-Gurion University organized a massive get out the vote program by bringing most of the major parties' leaders to campus for lectures and panel discussions. My two central takeaways were the <i>Yesh Atid</i> party's Yaakov Peri calling not to move towards a marriage with the West Bank leadership of the Palestinians, but rather a divorce. And a <i>Tnuah </i>representative urged the student body to vote: "A political party isn't a pair of pants or a shirt--there's no such thing as a perfect fit." His plea to the students was to shy away from small parties. I'm all for the Israeli electorate settling into larger parties in order to ensure greater governmental stability.<br />
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Election Day is a national holiday, which made it easy to make my return trip to my old haunts of Jerusalem's Baka neighborhood to vote. My Jerusalem bus to make my way back to Beer Sheva took me right by the Knesset--I put up a little "G-dspeed" for my party and its representatives to do me proud in the 19th incarnation of the Knesset.<br />
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Now for a bit of commentary, 2013 elections style: David Horovitz explaining the <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-untried-colors-of-bennett/">electorate's move to fresh, new candidates</a>; here he is a week earlier, spelling out <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/a-different-israel-after-january-22/">what's happening in these elections</a> so very eloquently; and here's an unbelievably frank <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/magazine/shimon-peres-on-obama-iran-and-the-path-to-peace.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">interview with President Shimon Peres</a>.<br />
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And now I'll go back to 2012, which wrapped up with quite a bit of bad news for my family:<br />
Albert Oscar Brotkin, 3/18/1948 - 12/25/2012. A pure, happy soul who spread a lot of laughter and smiles, who loved his family (especially his great-nephews Jake and Ben), blackjack, and his Cincinnati Reds. Mom and Amy were there to bury him in Dayton next to his parents. יהי זכרו ברוך- may his memory be a blessing.<br />
And my sister Amy's eulogy:<br />
Uncle Al, you were always a very positive force in my life. Growing up with you as my uncle was a very special experience. You taught me to appreciate the simple things in life. You were always kind, loving and silly--and gave the best hugs.<br />
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I hadn't seen you in several years, but the boys and I truly enjoyed our phone conversations with you. Hearing your voice on the other end of the line always lifted my spirits. I'm sorry you didn't get to see Jake again and meet Ben.<br />
<br />
--<br />
Then a few days later, we lost our cousin Toker, my "host father" during my year on OTZMA. I left his funeral at the family's Kibbutz Urim cemetery so grateful that I heard about and decided to come to Israel on OTZMA eight years ago. That lent me the opportunity to get to know the side of my family that came to Israel instead of America. Toker taught me a ton of Hebrew, even more "Israeli-ness," ragged on me in 2006 after my Mavs choked against the Heat (אתם לוזרים-<i>atem luzerim - </i>as it looks: "you're losers"), was such a proud tour guide of his kibbutz, had a huge heart (I sat next to him when he saw on the news that his friend's daughter was killed in a terrorist attack in Sinai during my OTZMA year--he squealed in pain for his friend's family), and was just a super cool, fun guy. He left a gaping hole in his family here, but we will always remember him fondly.<br />
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I've done plenty of catching up at too many celebratory events to count. But I'll take a step even farther back and now recount an important story from the time when Dad was sick:<br />
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<b>Some things you just don't procrastinate</b><br />
I flew to Dallas between grad school semesters almost two years ago to visit my very sick dad. The day I flew back to Israel, he lost vision in his eye. A few days later we learned the cancer had spread to his eye, and that he was no longer eligible to continue in his clinical trials. The doctor said he'd have two good months during which he could scratch some travel destinations off his to-do list. As such, I planned a return visit about a month later.<br />
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In what can only be called השגחה פרטית- <i>hashgacha pratit</i>: G-d becoming involved on a personal level in my life, I encountered Doron, a PhD student in my department, at his farewell party before traveling to Australia for his post-doc (we had previously enjoyed practicing our new languages on each other by the water cooler). We headed together to the bus stop to catch the bus to Jerusalem. There was a suspicious item on the bus we were supposed to catch and so it never left the central bus station, which led to a 45-minute wait for the next bus. With all that time to talk, I told him about my dad's situation.<br />
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Doron said immediately and adamantly: "You're waiting too long. You need to move the ticket up and go see your dad. This will have a huge effect on your life; it'll even impact your relationship with your kids."<br />
It sounded at first a bit over dramatic--I believed pretty blindly in modern medicine and Dad's doctor's prognosis and timeline. But when I got home to Jerusalem that night, I moved up my ticket by a week.<br />
<br />
In the end, I was able to be there for and with my sweet dad, thanks to Doron, for the last full week when Dad was himself, including when he said, "I've had enough fun to last the entirety of the universe." The day of my original ticket was the beginning of a serious downhill slide.<br />
<br />
So now I've finally fulfilled my promise to Doron to get this story out. You just can't procrastinate the essential things in life!<br />
<br />
--<br />
And now for some "link soup:"<br />
Apropos loss, an insightful <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/beyond-7-30-11-and-12-a-jewish-guide-to-supporting-those-who-mourn.premium-1.491433">review of Judaism's structure for mourners</a>, and beautiful advice on how to <a href="http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/ten-ways-to-help-the-grieving-newtown-families-from-a-mother-who-knows/">comfort Connecticut's mourners</a> from an Israeli who sadly knows all too well.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/01/17/israelis-have-fifth-highest-life-expectancy-in-the-world/">Israel's life expectancy is fifth longest</a> in the world (for males, second only to Switzerland). This year I was too busy at work to join the Asperger's Taglit group I staffed three previous winters, but they got some great press in the <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/aboard-the-aspergers-bus-a-quirky-mishpocha/">Times of Israel</a>. Israel, which for many years has been parched by the Middle Eastern sun and suffered many winters of drought, <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-no-longer-thirsty-after-rains-minister-says/">went for a nice binge drink</a> a couple weeks back. Here are some <a href="http://www.vosizneias.com/121356">spectacular snow pictures</a>, and this piece includes <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/snow-blankets-hills-from-golan-to-jerusalem-freezing-capital-in-place/">some more</a>.<br />
<br />
In bad elder care news, the already too small number of <a href="http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/even-fewer-geriatricians-in-training/">geriatricians training in the US</a> has suffered a further decline.<br />
<br />
Here's a fantastic <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/magazine/jerry-seinfeld-intends-to-die-standing-up.html">Seinfeld NYT interview</a>, and the accompanying <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9vrfEoc8_g">Superman theme song</a>.<br />
<br />
On that note, I'll have to call it a note as the laptop battery is going fast. The voting booths will be locked up at the end of the hour, and then the fun will just begin.<br />
<br />
Over and out,<br />
אריק/EricEric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-67497573653690562492012-12-24T19:53:00.001+02:002012-12-24T19:53:23.479+02:00Happy holidaysMerry Christmas to all my friends and readers celebrating!<br />
Here in Beer Sheva, we don't get this holiday off, so you'll find me tonight at a training session for new volunteers for Project La'ad at Ben-Gurion University, and tomorrow laying the groundwork to expand our program for the benefit of the Holocaust survivors in nearby Kiryat Malachi and recruiting new student volunteers at Achva College.<br />
<br />
Last week, my program brought volunteers from across the country to Jerusalem for a tour of Yad Vashem. This was the second of my nine tours of Israel's national Holocaust museum led in Hebrew, and as always, I picked up some new vocab:<br />
נצר / <i>netzer = </i>stem, shoot.<br />
This is a special usage referring to the lone survivor of an entire family. Our tour guide told us that Yad Vashem knows of 114 such last stems of their family tree who fell in Israel's War of Independence.<br />
<br />
Our tour guide also emphasized a list of numbers of Jews by country, compiled during the <a href="http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/04/wannsee_conference.asp">Wannsee Conference</a> and its Final Solution, a.k.a. extermination of Europe's Jewish population. The list included Estonia, with its relatively insignificant population of a few thousand Jews. So now our job as part of Project La'ad is to reach as many of Israel's roughly 230,000 survivors as possible in clarifying their rights, documenting their life stories in Project LeDorot (a joint program with Yad VaShem), and through a friendly visiting program--all without missing a single town, no matter how small its population of survivors.<br />
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<img alt="2012-12-18 12.19.41.jpg" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=990d3b3dd7&view=att&th=13bce07102486fdb&attid=0.1&disp=thd&realattid=1422257568083435285-1&zw" /><br />
At the end of the tour, where the main exhibit opens up to the spectacular rolling Jerusalem foothills, with a group of students from Ein Gedi who recently joined Project La'ad.<br />
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--<br />
Speaking of powerful, Dov Lipman's piece here gives plenty of motivation to continue my <a href="http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/resolve-to-make-a-change-say-hello/">dad's convivial attitude</a> in greeting everyone he saw with a smile and a 100% genuine "how are you?".<br />
<br />
Here's a really powerful <a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/pallotta/2012/12/never-lie-about-who-you-really-are.html">Harvard Business Review piece</a> about honesty and making day-to-day decisions with integrity (thanks to my co-aunt (urbandictionary.com's term for my sister's sister-in-law) Jenny).<br />
<br />
Dave Brubeck and sitar legend Ravi Shankar left the world in the same week. In addition to catching Brubeck with Dad, thanks to Michigan's <a href="http://www.ums.org/">University Musical Society</a>, which brought Shankar to Hill Auditorium (and gave students a crazy discount for good measure), I ended that rough week for the music world feeling extremely grateful to have seen both those, among so many other, legends in concert.<br />
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Peace and love from the capital of the Negev!<br />
אריק/EricEric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-79346800189392208842012-12-11T11:35:00.001+02:002013-01-05T19:02:27.248+02:00Back to normalThe war (עופרת עמוד ענן/<i>Oferet Amud Anan- </i>Operation Pillar of Defense) started as far as I was concerned when I got the following text from my boss:<br />
חיסלו את מפקד החמאס אז תזהר.. בטח יהיו נפילןת [<i>sic</i>]<br />
The Hamas commander was killed so watch out...there are gonna be rocket hits<br />
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From there I underwent the longest 17 hours of my life with 20 sirens, made it to Jerusalem (where I was interviewed on WGN), and all the way north to Carmiel, the bag I packed for a week and a half lasted me exactly the correct duration, and then a couple weeks ago I got back home to the South.<br />
Everything, believe it or not, is back to normal. It certainly was odd to report on my timesheet for that "Rocket Thursday" <i>I couldn't get to the office because of war. </i>Anyone reading here ever had to report that on their timesheet???<br />
But I am thrilled to be back in the Beer Sheva I love, that of the pool, the free concert series where I was thrilled to see Peter Rot, one of my favorite singer-songwriters, the weekend spectacular moonlight hike that the student association put together at Yerucham Lake to our south. And this week I've lit candles with some friends from the university. Life is good and I'm very busily back to work.<br />
<br />
The incredibly Koby Mandell Foundation opened up its Comedy for Koby shows to Southern Israel residents--I made the trip to Jerusalem for my free show, but will certainly be a regular attendee and help fund raise for their future shows. A friend and former colleague from work at Masa <a href="http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Entertainment/Article.aspx?id=294465">reviewed the show</a> as part of her job at the Jerusalem Post. As Rachel reported- Named for 13-year-old Koby Mandell who was killed by terrorists in 2001, its biannual shows help raise funds for activities benefiting Israelis who have lost loved ones to terrorism. Check out the Foundation's website--I especially enjoyed this list of <a href="http://www.kobymandell.org/story/14420807/kobys-jokes">Koby's favorite jokes</a>.<br />
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חנוכה שמח/<i>Chanuka sameach</i>- Happy Chanuka! I enjoyed <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chief-rabbi-lord-sacks/hanukkahs-unending-light-of-hope_b_2251102.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008&utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false">Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks</a>' basic historical piece on Jewish celebration of this holiday.<br />
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Israel's nurses are on strike for the ninth day, sending shock waves throughout the country and the health care system. As the son of a nurse in her fourth decade in the field, it hurt to read the scathing picture this <a href="http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4315906,00.html">Israeli nurse painted of her work conditions</a> (written very clearly for the layman, for the Hebrew readers among you).<br />
<br />
One of Dad's all-time favorites, <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2012/12/05/166591728/dave-brubeck-beyond-take-five">Dave Brubeck, joined Dad upstairs for a duet</a> (that NPR piece is loaded with fantastic videos). This video of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1jWlpMQW3Y">Kennedy Center Honors performance for Brubeck</a> three years ago is so heartwarming--check out the huge smile on Dave's face when his sons formed a quartet and jammed for his birthday!<br />
<br />
Dad--you missed my performance of RSVP for your אזכרה/<i>azkara</i> - memorial last spring, but I'll keep learning your music and give you a nice show upstairs. The Jazz 101 course you taught me was front-loaded with Brubeck. Your enjoyment for his odd time-signatures and unique voice, which so clearly left its mark on yours, passed to me immediately when you got me into his stuff when I was in high school. And then we caught him live at Ravinia at their summer jazz festival, one of so many you came up to Chicago to enjoy with me.<br />
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Doctor Sekeres' New York Times blog post on <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/a-wedding-and-a-funeral/">cancer patients holding out</a> for family visits or celebrations before succumbing to the disease hit home especially hard on a week when I received the heartbreaking news that another friend lost his mother to cancer.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/richardbehar/2012/11/30/my-family-in-israel-one-direct-hit-two-near-misses-and-the-brainwashing-behind-the-rockets/">Richard Behar</a>, a financial journalist looking professionally from the outside in at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict proved himself extremely adept at presenting background on the situation.<br />
<br />
Stevie Wonder let me down big time by succumbing to pressure and backing out on his LA <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/citing-a-heavy-heart-stevie-wonder-pulls-out-of-friends-of-the-idf-concert/?fb_comment_id=fbc_396579210420405_2907066_397153837029609#f717e94e8">concert for the Friends of the IDF</a>. Stevie--if you're reading my blog :), I met you back on Martin Luther King Day in 2003 after you spoke and played at the Northwestern University MLK Day event. Then you urged Bush to stop the war in the Middle East. While I disagree with your decision to cancel your performance, I see that an IDF-related event might not be the best match for you. But I sure would love to see you find an alternative cause in Israel to support. We love you and need you Stevie!<br />
<br />
Peace and love,<br />
EricEric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-25085865394013212792012-11-22T19:06:00.000+02:002013-03-03T11:39:47.768+02:00Beautiful Israel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After working with my counterpart in the North from her Carmiel office yesterday, I found this beautiful Magen David monument to a fallen soldier during the second to last war, the Second Lebanon War on the way out of town today. Gilad fell at the age of 29. The Jewish star says it all--that conflict, just like the one that ended for now last night, was all about terror organizations aiming to kill Jews so that we could not live here in our historic (and also beautiful, huh?) homeland. I'll get back on here soon to read and translate some of the memorial plaque. For now, enjoy the view behind the monument, where you can see the rolling hills of the Galilee region.<br />
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David Horovitz (yes, he's my main man. Ok, I'm obsessed for good reason, as he spoke to my OTZMA group eight years ago while I was Editor in Chief of the Jerusalem Post; he was just the nicest guy) echoed my sentiments from my post last night, writing "<a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/until-the-next-time/">Until the next time</a>." And the onion hit <a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/calm-sense-of-impending-violence-returns-to-middle,30494/?ref=auto">Israel's mood</a> today on the head.<br />
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Alright, that's enough of everything that's wrong with Israel, what with her all too precarious position surrounded by enemies.<br />
So here's everything that's right about Israel. This song was the NBA on Sport 5's song for those magical 2011 playoffs. Somehow, until now, I had missed this actual video, featuring the stunning Michal Shapira (the land here is beautiful, and so are the women). Enjoy a beautiful Israeli making some sublime Israeli music:<br />
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Now it's time for turkey, Jerusalem style! Missing my amazing Dad and our Turkey Trot 8 mile runs so much! He'd usually wax nostalgic around mile 5. A couple times I mentioned frustrations with the ladies.<br />
I remember him replying along the lines of, "You'll be fine, just stay patient and keep looking. You'll know when it's right."<br />
Anyone have Michal Shapira's number?<br />
Kidding.<br />
<br />
This guy is super thankful for the lovely Thanksgiving visit with Mom on Skype! Good luck Amy and the boys in hosting their big dinner in Stamford! בתאבון לכולם / <i>b'teavon l'kulam</i> = bon appetit to all!<br />
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And I'm out,<br />
EricEric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-74203879185892814442012-11-21T21:56:00.003+02:002012-11-21T21:59:56.148+02:00"Over" for nowI just watched my Prime Minister Netanyahu speak nicely, but with maybe 10% of his typical aplomb. He must have seen the survey showing that 70% of the country was against a ceasefire now. But he has the oh-so-undesirable job of leading this fine country, and it was so obvious that he reluctantly chose this to be the least-bad-option for the evening of November 21, 2012.<br />
<br />
Now, I have to take a step back and appreciate how well I've, thank G-d, managed to integrate here. Four years ago during Operation Cast Lead, I had gotten my Hebrew up to speed, but in that gap between wars, I picked up more vocab; now I fully understood Netanyahu and used other words which I had picked up on the news or in the newspaper to be fully abreast of what's happening. And I'll continue to soak up new words--today's news further expanded my war-time vocab: <br />
<br />
אוֹת קָלוֹן/<i>ot kalon</i><br />
stigma, mark of disgrace (used by Ben-Gurion University Med School administration staff to describe med students who didn't stay in town for their rotations)<br />
<br />
חָפוּז/<i>chafuz</i><br />
hasty (used to describe the preparation of the Tel Aviv bus bomb)<br />
<br />
and<br />
התנסות ראשונה/<i>hitnasut rishona</i><br />
first time experience (used by Ben-Gurion University President Rivka Carmi to describe those Beer Sheva residents, like me, who were not yet around the last time during Operation Cast Lead)<br />
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But after we ceased our fire per the agreement, the terrorists continue to send rockets toward Israeli civilians. I type, they continue trying to kill us...</div>
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<b><u>It's always something</u></b></div>
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Two and a half years ago, I got news that Dad's cancer had come back after his first round of chemo, the night before my first exam in grad school. That ambush of exams was the hardest I had in one semester, including Pathophysiology, Budget Management and Planning, and Epidemiology (all in Hebrew, of course). I used Tom Petty's "Runnin' Down a Dream" one of my aliyah anthems, to help me survive that summer's exams.</div>
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Last night I had what I think was my first nightmare of sirens and running to shelter to avoid rocket fire. Now I can only hope and pray that Hamas and their compadres will wise up and finally stop terrorizing Israel with rockets (the ceasefire as of now clearly means zilch to them). And I will catch up on my work, keep one foot in front of the next, and make that dream happen each day despite so many useless, hateful anti-Semities who don't want me here.</div>
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More recommended reading:</div>
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Michael Oren, who revoked his US citizenship for this moment of serving Israel as Ambassador to the US, giving fantastic <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/21/opinion/israels-tactics-and-strategy-in-gaza.html?_r=0">historical perspective to the conflict</a> of Israel against its haters.</div>
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David Horovitz, wisely warning Israel to beware of <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-dangerous-success-of-iron-dome/">Hamas's future attempts to outsmart the Iron Dome</a>.</div>
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And a touching <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/11/pastrami.html">personal depiction of his son's response to rocket fire and sirens</a> by big-time Israeli writer Etgar Keret, who also lectures at Ben-Gurion!</div>
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With that I'll wrap up my visit to the North and head back to Jerusalem tomorrow morning.</div>
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Happy trails to everyone getting back home to the South and the tens of thousands of reserve soldiers returning home. And a רפואה שלמה/<i>refua slema</i> - full healing to all the Israelis injured.</div>
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Huge thanks again to everyone who reached out to me or my Mom! It means the world to me.</div>
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And Happy Thanksgiving America! Love,</div>
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אריק/Eric</div>
Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-89132858192046575962012-11-20T17:27:00.000+02:002012-11-20T23:47:25.150+02:00NorthboundSo my ten minute interview with WGN turned into one sentence. And the mispronunciations of my name and especially Beer Sheva were pretty comical! But the version at <a href="http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-pro-israel-rally-held-in-loop-20121120,0,2677802.story">this link</a> includes both my photo and my name spelled correctly (I'm 1:40 in).<br />
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My impassioned plea for Chicagoans to look past the headlines and truly understand the Israeli perspective in fighting terror--not deemed TV-friendly. But I'm glad I was able to provide the voice of a former Chicagoan so that people can try to relate to Israelis under fire.<br />
<br />
45 minutes after I was on the air in Chicago as a Beer Sheva refugee who relocated to Jerusalem (Nancy didn't mention, but the relocation is temporary), a second air raid siren was heard in Jerusalem. The rocket landed outside of town.<br />
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So I'll go ahead and abstain from publicizing the next city on my Israel tour--I scheduled a visit up north with my work counterpart there once things got out of hand in Beer Sheva. Getting there from Jerusalem is a much more manageable journey. Looking forward to the change of scenery...<br />
<br />
Here's another piece by Khaled Abu Toameh, even further <a href="http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/an-arab-view/2012/11/20/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-arab-view">dampening hopes of reconciliation with moderate Palestinians</a>.<br />
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Thanks for listening, and a huge thanks to everyone for expressing their concern and support! It means the world to me--I couldn't make it without you!<br />
Peace and love,<br />
EricEric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-74158487448708201872012-11-20T13:13:00.000+02:002012-11-20T17:28:42.073+02:00Interview on WGN<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">Watch/listen live </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">to my interview </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">on <a href="http://www.wgntv.com/news/livestreaming/">WGN </a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.wgntv.com/news/livestreaming/">offering the Beer Sheva perspective</a>. Huge thanks go to former Chicago roommate Andy Zuick</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;"> for getting me onto the news of one of my all-time favorite channels. As of now, I'll be on as part of a piece around 11:00, noon CT/19:00, 20:00 Israel.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">If you can't catch that, here's an <a href="http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=91046&sitesection=wgnlanding&VID=23893267">archived link</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: right;">. I speak at 1:10 on that. My ten minute interview turned into one sentence...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">After Saturday's news of the 73-year-old Beer Sheva man who fell and died while running to shelter (which has not been reported in the media as it should as a murderous attack), I woke up Sunday to learn that a Holocaust survivor with whom I worked closely passed away on Thursday. This is a woman who survived the Holocaust in Romania, moved to Kiryat Shmona in Israel's North, suffered years of relentless rocket fire on her home there, then moved to Sderot, where she hoped she would experience some peace and quiet. Well, Sderot subsequently turned into Hamas' punching bag, the blunt of the majority of the thousands of rockets launched out of Gaza for the last 12 years.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">I got the news too late in order to attend her funeral and have not learned her cause of death, but I do know that her last day on Earth was incredibly unpleasant, as rocket attacks on Sderot and the South intensified beginning last Wednesday night.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">I'm working from Jerusalem and enjoying the opportunity to catch my friends here during the week. That meant watching the Cowboys' ugly win Sunday night with fellow Dallas fan Debbie and NFL fan and former roommate Noah. Then last night I caught another friend's birthday party. A facetime chat with Amy, Aron and the nephews will always make my week, but especially so this time! </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">But I of course look forward to returning home to Beer Sheva and catching up on a great deal of work. It breaks my heart that so many of my training sessions and events will have to be delayed because of the rocket fire on my region.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">Suggested reading/viewing:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">Beer Sheva under attack</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">A <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/for-the-flagship-university-of-a-poor-southern-city-the-rocket-routine-just-has-to-stop/">portrait of my deserted alma mater, Ben-Gurion University</a>. Now can I express gratitude for having completed my degree in between two wars.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.melaniephillips.com/here-is-the-real-news">Melanie Phillips' take on the news</a>.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/when-balance-becomes-betrayel/">Daniel Gordis encouraging the Jewish community to support Israel</a>, rather than focusing on balance and a universalistic approach. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">An in depth look at the development of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-israel-developed-the-iron-dome-2012-11">Iron Dome</a> defense system, and the <a href="http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000799643&fid=1725">developer's prediction</a> of future improvements of the system.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">Khaled Abu Toameh once again shows how <a href="http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/no-room-for-moderate-palestinians/2012/11/18/">impossible it is to be a moderate Palestinian</a>.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">My friend Sara on the <a href="http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/from-iron-dome-to-ivory-tower/">difficulties of supporting Israel in the academic world</a>.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">Amir Mizroch with some <a href="http://amirmizroch.com/2012/11/19/lessons-from-the-second-six-day-war/">military insight</a> on the situation.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: right;">And last but not least, in Michigan news, <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20121117/COL01/121117034/mitch-albom-michigan-wolverines-iowa-hawkeyes-denard-robinson-devin-gardner?odyssey=obinsite">Denard Robinson just thanked me</a> for coming out. Beer Sheva to Arlington for the Alabama game, of all games, was a pretty rough one to watch. But Denard just made it all ok.</span>Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-26365413840281437042012-11-18T01:27:00.000+02:002012-11-18T14:46:27.811+02:00An older Israeli dies, Hamas celebrates<div>
I just got back from one last celebration tonight for the bride and groom, Racheli and Mark...</div>
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The host couldn't even join the party he organized, as he, like tens of thousands of other young Israelis (several of my friends included) was called up for reserve action. The party went on with another round of beautiful, joyous music by the violinist bride, flautist groom, and accompanists on guitar and hand drums. But of course, conspicuous beneath the ecstatic celebration for the amazing couple, we're all feeling this war heavily on our hearts.</div>
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<b><u>הכל בסדר/<i>ha'kol b'seder/</i>everything's ok</u></b></div>
Everything's fine here in Jerusalem (despite the siren Friday evening and two rockets landing nearby. Can't miss <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-godless-killers/">David Horovitz's crazy insightful analysis</a> of that one). But back home in Beer Sheva, everything is very much not ok. A <a href="http://www.mako.co.il/news-military/amud-anan/Article-2a4cf3a2e301b31006.htm&Partner=rss">73 year old man</a> collapsed while running for shelter (one neighborhood over from me) during an Air Raid Siren (just one of over ten there on our holy Shabbat day of rest), due to a barrage of rockets fired at the city. Magen David Adom medics attempted to resuscitate the man, but he was declared dead. So I'll make my way to bed completely and utterly heartbroken for his family, my family.<br />
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<b><u>My wish</u></b></div>
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שיהיה שבוע טוב ושקט/May it be a good, quiet week for the Jewish people. May we defeat the terror emanating from Hamas and their cohorts so that my people will never have to spend another Shabbat running for cover during prayer services. May Hamas stop despicably harming millions of people by aiming murderous rockets at our civilians while <a href="http://twitter.com/IDFSpokesperson/status/269737747118448640/photo/1">launching them amidst their own civilian population</a>. May the world see through their pugnacious lies, stop hating on my people by even considering for a second that terrorism can be justified, and start to understand that we take outrageous efforts to kill only those who would wish to harm us, scrupulously avoiding Gazan civilian casualties. May those tens of thousands of soldiers be wildly successful in their mission to provide septuagenarians and all my brothers and sisters with a normal life in which we will not constantly walk around with a bull's eye on our heads, and may the soldiers all come home safe to their worried families and give their moms and wives and kids a big kiss. May those who are in shape successfully continue running on time to shelter to stay out of harm's way and do their part to keep this from escalating out of control. And may those who are unable to run, please G-d, hear no more air raid sirens. Ever. The Holocaust survivors for whom I work have been through enough already.</div>
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Most of all, may our enemies (of which we have no shortage) once and for all figure out that no matter how hard they may try, no matter how much they wish that we, the proud Jewish state of Israel, would cease to exist, that I would die or go back to the US...they will fail! They have failed in their murderous intents for nearly a century, and with G-d's help, we will continue to defeat them.</div>
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Yes, I am angry...</div>
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But I have nothing but love for you,</div>
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אריק/Eric<br />
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P.S. GO BLUE, Nice Michigan win for a diversion! While we manhandled Iowa this time, one of my all-time favorite memories was watching with Dad as we made the spectacular comeback against the Hawkeyes in 1997, a huge part of our National Championship run. Now Beat ohio!</div>
Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-56045353600487435492012-11-16T16:33:00.000+02:002012-11-16T16:33:04.640+02:00נ.ב. - P.S.נ.ב. = P.S.<br />
I hit a shot! Not Dirk style, but I made the game winning shot no less from the paint.<br />
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Another small victory now was being able to take a shower without the terror of figuring out how to get the towel on in time to run to shelter. While I was terrified yesterday mid-shower in Beer Sheva, I thankfully made it in and out without having to handle that sticky situation.<br />
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In Beer Sheva we have one minute to get to shelter. In Sderot and the communities closer to Gaza, only 15 seconds. These poor souls have been dealing with that shower scenario for 12 years! Enough! That's why this operation is happening.<br />
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As we started the basketball game, Tel Aviv ran to shelter once again.<br />
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Off to services to pray hard for שלום רב על ישראל עמך/<i>Shalom Rav Al Yisrael Amcha - </i>Peace on Israel, Your people. May my extended family of Israelis know no more Shabbatot in shelters!<br />
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Much love once againEric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-46911205197665506972012-11-16T13:20:00.001+02:002012-11-16T13:20:44.930+02:00ExhalingEight glorious hours of sleep later...<br />
My friend and old roommate Noah very quickly extended the offer of refuge from bombarded Beer Sheva. His wife Livia's in the States for a bit, so I'm glad to keep him company here in Jerusalem.<br />
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After the previous night of an alarm every hour from midnight to 3am in the form of an air raid siren, after a morning when Hamas wouldn't even let me use the bathroom in peace, I'm immensely enjoying the little things here...also enjoying some hearty laughs while watching absurd YouTube videos with Noah, reading about the insane mind of the Lakers' Metta World Peace, and playing some Wii baseball and tennis.<br />
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<b><u>Cardio workouts and New Balance shoes vis-a-vis survival</u></b><br />
Let's go back to Wednesday night. It's a good thing I've been making about three visits a week to the Ben-Gurion University pool, where you can find me "pool running" in the "slow lane." I kept the running shoes ready to go (thanks so much Mom for buying me those back in September in Dallas!). My new roommate Amatzia didn't bother taking his off and just slept with them on. He pulled a muscle on one run down to the shelter. I've been telling him since we moved in he needs to hit the gym with me!<br />
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<b><u>The squeaky wheel gets the shelter unlocked</u></b><br />
As for the shelter, I'm very grateful for my downstairs neighbors who called the Municipality ad nauseam until they came to unlock it for our use. Thankfully it's very spacious and clean. That same assertive neighbor must be in her fifties, and struggles with a sore knee to get downstairs to shelter and back up.<br />
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Three fellow Israelis were killed yesterday when a terrorist rocket hit their house in Kiryat Malachi. May their memories be a blessing.<br />
They were reported to be by the window. Please know that I am uber-serious about following the orders of the Home Front Command, and will always put my running shoes to use to get to shelter. And for now I used the trusty 470 Egged bus to get out of range. About 45 minutes after we left, we were out of the range of rockets that Hamas had used.<br />
But then last night, sirens were sounded in Tel Aviv.<br />
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I'll let my Prime Minister Netanyahu speak for me about the background and the untenable situation of a decade of terrorist rocket fire, with the insidious aim of killing as many of my brothers and sisters as possible:<br />
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As for last night's post, I failed to explain what <i>Sheva Brachot </i>is. After the wedding ceremony and for the next six nights, a series of festive meals for the bride and groom are followed by the traditional seven blessings (שבע ברכות/<i>sheva brachot = </i>seven blessings). So the party continued, but I was able to give a taste of the Southern experience to the room of Jerusalemites amidst blessings for the amazing Mark and Racheli.<br />
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Mark is one of the best friends a guy could ask for, always there to help, support, offer what he can; and just a happy, fun, deep, bright, musically-talented guy who digs sharing a tasty bottle of wine.<br />
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<b><u>A successful <i>aliyah</i></u></b><br />
I mentioned last night the countless offers from friends here. Ironically, a ton of friends in Tel Aviv offered shelter by them, then had to run to shelter themselves yesterday evening.<br />
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I believe very firmly that a successful <i>aliyah</i> means meeting and encountering good people. With that in mind, my move to Israel has been an overwhelming success, with an unbelievable, diverse mix of great people who've entered my life here. Praise the Lord Halleluya for these awesome folks!<br />
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As Ben-Gurion--obviously--closed the pool, I am overdue for a workout. So while my heart and mind are with my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews and grandparents in the South, and the brave soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, you can find me on the basketball court for a direly needed ventilation session. Hoping to hit a basket in this Jerusalem pick-up league for the first time. I'm thinking something like this:<br />
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Peace and love and shelter from bad things. כן יהי רצון/<i>cen y'hi ratzon/</i>may it be G-d's will. And I'm out,<br />
אריק/EricEric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-17230291295660991282012-11-15T17:53:00.002+02:002012-11-20T23:57:18.338+02:00Living on the front page of Jewish history<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Moving to Israel means living on the front page of Jewish history. That's usually exhilarating, something that offers wonderful growth and deep meaning to my life.</div>
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Other times, that means living on the front page of anti-Semitism and Islamic fundamentalism. That's quite a bit less pleasant.</div>
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After our targeted killing of a Hamas leader who was responsible for killing and terrorizing innocent Israeli civilians, not to mention kidnapping and holding onto Gilad Shalit; Israel's South knew the forecast for rockets wasn't any 40% chance--we were gonna feel the pain.</div>
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And pain we felt. I lost count very quickly. But my friend and fellow Beer Sheva resident Ravit painstakingly kept track of those last night 7:57, 8, 8:10, 9ish, 12:15, 1:15, 2:35, 3, 6:30, 7:45, 7:48, 8:06, 8:40, 9, 9:15...there were another couple on my way out of town to Jerusalem.<br />
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So that was more in about 16 and a half hours than all the sirens I had heard combined in the two years prior.</div>
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Skype-ing with Mom and off to Sheva Brachot for my amazing friend Mark (below, his wedding was two nights ago).<br />
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And this is the spectacular Negev sunset from my train ride to Beer Sheva yesterday. I got the news from my boss right before I took this, knowing that the sunset to the west would certainly beat anything else coming from that direction in the near future.<br />
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Lots of love and huge thanks to so many amazing friends here who offered me a place to crash to get out of rocket range.<br />
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Now I'll catch up on some old interesting links. A Wall Street Journal piece about rocking out the <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2012/08/22/tomorrows-to-do-turbocharge-your-career-before-breakfast/">morning at work</a>. An interesting guide to which types of produce it's important to <a href="http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/">buy organic</a>, and which less so. And jazz guitar maestro <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jE_AMMv_PQ">Pat Metheny, on YouTube</a>, talking about how YouTube's access to so much music has proved to be a game-changer for musicians.<br />
<br />
שבת שלום מירושלים/Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem,<br />
אריק/Eric<br />
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Eric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-40109287704006565512012-09-15T01:21:00.000+03:002013-01-05T19:35:45.653+02:00Dear Dad<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Dear Dad,<br />
I'm sitting in LaGuardia waiting for Amy and the sweet boys. I can only imagine how excited you are to see Jake at 6 and Ben, who turns 3 tomorrow! You always were the first to call in the morning to wish Happy Birthday.<br />
<br />
I just wrapped up two amazing weeks with Mom at her new place. While it was sad not to stay at the house that we called home for about 30 years, it was absolutely the right move at the right time for Mom to downsize. Last Friday night after Shabbat dinner, I paid a visit to the old house. I pictured you bringing Amy and me into our new home as toddlers. I smiled and pictured you walking our sweet dog Snoopy up and down the street. I saw my home runs raining down on the next-door neighbors' yard (thanks for throwing your pitches right down the middle of the strike zone!). I saw massive trees, which shower the yard and house with shade. We planted tiny trees (one merely became second base for my home run trots, only occasionally tall enough to swat down my long-balls), and they sprouted majestically in a wonderful setting for growth. Just like the home you and Mom made in which Amy and I could develop and grow into who we are today.<br />
<br />
Our friends the Browns are Mom's new neighbors. Elinore commented on Amy's and my eulogies that they confirmed your obsession with us. I was pondering during this visit...how many fathers merit to be in attendance to see their son play Carnegie Hall (with the J.J. Pearce High School Symphonic Band) and their daughter as a contestant on the Wheel of Fortune; to attend Amy's graduation from Indiana and mine from Michigan; to cross the world to visit us, seeing Amy at home in France on her semester abroad and allowing me to play Israel tour guide when I was on OTZMA. Not bad!<br />
<br />
Tuesday Mom and I took a ton of your music and music educational materials to your alma mater, the University of North Texas. You'll be pleased that those tools will be there for countless UNT students to come; they landed in the great hands of a group of true music aficionados in the library.<br />
<br />
Then Wednesday we visited your grave. I hadn't been since the headstone Mom, Amy and I decided upon was put in place. In fact, when I last visited you in May 2011, the grass hadn't even come in yet. There's a young tree nearby that will also take shape and provide shade for your visitors from the Texas sun. You hear a constant hum of cars driving by on the Near North Dallas streets and the adjacent Central Expressway. It's surprisingly peaceful, a bit like the waves of the sea. I bet you enjoy the silence at night. I'd visit you then, but (thankfully), they lock the cemetery up at night.<br />
<br />
About 40 years ago you and Mom left the friendly confines of Cincinnati and set up roots in the great Lone Star State, where you will rest eternally.<br />
<br />
It's funny that you were the only thing that drew us downtown during my visit! Everything else was out west--my alma mater Michigan laid an egg against an unbelievable Alabama team. How they assembled that much talent in one state is pretty remarkable...I'm actually talking about the endless stream of Bama women that got on the massive jumbotron at Cowboys Stadium. It was good to catch up with some Wolverine friends nonetheless. <br />
<br />
We saw Buddy Guy at the Bedford Blues Fest three years ago; this year I saw another favorite, Keb' Mo'. Then I enjoyed the most Texan of places--Fort Worth's <a href="http://billybobstexas.com/">Billy Bob's Texas</a>, the world's largest honky tonk. The amazing Texas country singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen officially wrapped up my summer of infinite concerts.<br />
<br />
Then Mom and I brought home two winners as the Rangers nearly swept Cleveland (including middle infielder prodigy Jurickson Profar's first action at home in Texas), but old friend Andrew and I watched Joe Nathan's 31-save streak come to an end on a beautifully cool evening. The silver lining was being part of the crowd that pushed attendance at Rangers Ballpark over 3 million (!) for the first time. I don't think I'd been to three games in a row since our early-90's road trips to Houston to see your Cincinnati Reds in Texas. Your fatherly dedication was most conspicuous when you camped out overnight (!) to get us Rangers playoff tickets, but I'm blown away now to think how many hours you invested to take me early to so many games to watch batting practice and collect autographs.<br />
<br />
Amy's about to get here. I miss you so much Dad, but I'll always remember all the concerts and games we attended, I'll remember your smile when a Dallas team won or at a family celebration, and of course I'll keep listening to your album the Sounds of Samuels and recall how you were on top of the world during that creative process. The picture at top, taken between sessions, is my new favorite. I love you so much and will keep doing my best to keep your positive spirit alive...<br />
<br />
--<br />
Wisdom gleaned among the piles of stuff I recycled at Mom's new place:<br />
<br />
"I made stupid mistakes. I'm not ashamed of them. I made them and I admit that. To me, if you admit your mistakes, you don't have a problem dealing with yourself."<br />
-Sparky Anderson, re. managing decisions in the 1972 and 1975 World Series.<br />
<br />
About Marian McPartland, from a 1997 JazzTimes when she was 77:<br />
"She'd call me up and say, 'Billy, have you heard so and so, and so and so..." Just kind of pointing the finger at someone else whose talent she admired." <br />
-Billy Taylor<br />
(sounds like you, Dad!)<br />
<br />
"Marian is really quite a young lady; her chronological age has nothing to do with her curiosity and her sense for taking chances... She'll hear something and ask, 'What's that?' She's not afraid to ask questions, and the questions she asks are good ones... And that's how she keeps growing."<br />
-Jack DeJohnette<br />
(also sounds exactly like you!)<br />
<br />
--<br />
Neil Armstrong has also joined you upstairs. I smile thinking of you bouncing around together up on the Moon. You're surely also grinning from ear to ear.<br />
<br />
As I mentioned in my previous post, the world lost an amazing jazz saxophonist and an unbelievably unique human being in Von Freeman a couple weeks back. His memorial was last month in Chicago--what I would have done to be able to be in Beer Sheva and Chicago at once...<br />
<br />
As that couldn't be done, I'll reflect here about my experience with "Vonski."<br />
<br />
After Vonski called you onto the stage with his quartet, giving you your nickname "Pops," very late into that Tuesday night, Vonski implored me to "cherish your Daddy." That was one of my proudest moments to be your son, watching you trade eights with a legend and my all-time favorite saxophonist!<br />
<br />
Unlike so many who don't have the chance to express their feelings until it's too late, I am fully confident that I cherished you completely, and it was 100% reciprocated! What a gift.<br />
<br />
My efforts to proselytize and bring everyone I knew in Chicago to see Vonski's priceless concerts were the closest I came to sharing your passion for spreading the music of Clare Fischer, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner, Red Garland, Duke Ellington, Cannonball Adderley among so many others to so many students, friends and family, and fans from California to Japan who bought your CDs.<br />
<br />
Vonski also shared your jazz spirit in embracing diversity--his crowds were the most remarkable mix of local South Siders, University of Chicago students, and students from colleges across Chicagoland who came and stayed late for the late-night jam session. And like you, he was so generous in opening the Tuesday gig to everyone who wanted to check it out by not charging cover.<br />
<br />
This <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-von-freeman-dies-chicago-jazz-music-20120813,0,7008651.column?page=1">Chicago Tribune piece</a> is so rich, with some priceless, hilarious tidbits on Von (and the saddening knowledge that such a generous man really struggled financially). Here's one of my old favorite TV shows, <a href="http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2012/08/16/remembering-von-freeman?fb_action_ids=3976137316030&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=246965925417366">Chicago Tonight</a>, featuring Von. Here's a nice <a href="http://www.greenleafmusic.com/michael-friedman-remembers-von-freeman">reflection </a>from the producer of one of Von's albums, featuring audio of a spectacular solo performance. This post gives a wonderful picture of the <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2012/08/13/von-freeman/">Tuesday night experience</a> at the New Apartment Lounge.<br />
<br />
Gotta run, my nephews are waiting for me!<br />
<br />
Peace, love, and a wonderful new year to all.<br />
Shabbat Shalom/שבת שלום<br />
אריק/EricEric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-22653816066154830002012-08-16T00:19:00.003+03:002012-08-17T13:56:40.285+03:00A bittersweet (but mostly sweet) summer, Part IAs with everything in life, this summer has served up heaping doses of amazing (for the most part), along with some great sadness. It's been quite awhile since the last post, so brace yourselves :)<br />
<br />
I'll start with the good stuff...since my last post, I received that sweet sheet of paper that says, "You officially have a Master's in Gerontology from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev" (the diploma comes next June). I toiled for two years, went to many a lecture early on that I barely understood, got my Hebrew up to speed, studied many a late night, wrote about as many papers as I could possibly stomach (anyone who got an email pleading for help editing can attest to that), and rocked out a GPA to be very proud of and a new suffix! Eric Samuels, MA baby!<br />
<br />
I went to a ton of weddings over the year of mourning for my amazing dad. Some observant Jews don't attend weddings at all over the year. I decided to accept and acknowledge both my immense family sadness and my overwhelming joy for the eight couples by asking them for a "job" on their big day--anything from translating one ceremony for the American guests and emceeing another to guarding the liquor. Doing those jobs well to enhance the happiness of the couples allowed me to feel that I was bringing my dad's giving nature and constant joy to the event. But I didn't dance at the weddings over the year (or anywhere else for that matter). The intense joy that exudes from the dance floor (all the more so to celebrate young couples building a home here in Israel) was just too much for me...<br />
<br />
While passing the first anniversary of course does not leave me the same Eric that I was before we lost Dad, and while the pain will always be with me, I was thrilled to make my bouncing, sweaty return to the dance floor at three weddings of friends this summer (I've now been to 47 weddings to celebrate with 94 amazing friends and relatives! And yes, I count).<br />
<br />
I returned to the Bloodmobile to donate blood for the 11th time since making <i>aliyah</i>, meaning I had to break in a new card recording my donation dates. If each one can save three lives, so I may have matched my age in lives saved during just over four years, and plan to keep the blood flowing!<br />
<br />
A big goal of my October move to Beer Sheva was to slow down and take advantage of what the campus life offers. I've done that by spending many a dusk kicking back on the campus grass to read a book (the consistently delightful evenings are compensation for the hellacious desert days), and I've returned to my fall routine of roughly three weekly visits to the pool, and have now gotten back regularly to the volleyball court. Monday night was my first beach volleyball game since Dad's birthday in June 2011, and man it felt good to roll off some wicked serves, plus a great spike or two and authoritative block.<br />
<br />
As for those desert days, our ride back from Eilat finished what summer in Beer Sheva had started--my bar of face soap has melted and turned into goo form. I haven't tried to match what the Texas sun once did to a CD case I left on the dashboard of my car--that case also melted and warped into a new form.<br />
<br />
In a nice blast from the past, I saw Pulp Fiction in the theater (on campus) for the first time in about 15 years. How cool to see it with Hebrew subtitles, meaning the original text for Samuel L. Jackson's recurring Ezekiel quote.<br />
<br />
On Tisha B'Av, commemorating the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem, I for the first time attended what will surely become a regular tradition: Beit Avi Chai in Jerusalem's center runs annual day-long programs on this and other dates on the Hebrew calendar, including the Shavuot holiday. Tradition holds that the Jewish people was punished for its blind hatred of each other with the destruction of the Second Temple and exile from Israel, so this day focused on hatred in Israeli society. Most interesting were a cinematic look at unhealthy father-son relationships depicted in Israeli film (which left me thanking G-d for my amazing relationship with my dad!) and the screening of a film (then discussion with the director) about his stormy transition from ultra-Orthodox music star to secular Israeli. Soaking up the fascinating programming helped distract me from the fact that I hadn't been eating or drinking for 25 hours on that long, hot summer fast day. My university deserves a thank you--attending lectures in grad school prepared me to fully enjoy all that programming in Hebrew.<br />
<br />
I'll wrap up reflecting on lots of amazing-ness by touching on an...amazing trip back to the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Eilat a couple weeks back to see my favorite jazz bassist, Christian McBride.<br />
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<img alt="2012-08-02 02.32.56.jpg" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=990d3b3dd7&view=att&th=138ed4ccd5289085&attid=0.1&disp=thd&realattid=1409296534409156705-1&zw" />
<br />
His pianist's name is also <a href="http://www.myspace.com/christiansandsmusic">Christian (Sands)</a>. Just awesome to host these unbelievable talents back in Israel! McBride called his 23ish-year-old bandmate "illustrious;" I couldn't find a better word to describe him. All you have to know is that he was the late, great Billy Taylor's protege. I told him after the show that his amazing chops and incredible soul to match made him the perfect pianist for the equally versatile McBride. The great drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. rounded out the trio impeccably (and I'm not just saying that because he's now my facebook friend).<br />
<br />
Christian started the show by letting us know how the previous night's crowd had made him feel like Paul McCartney. I immediately thought of Dad's trip to the Dominican Republic with Brookhaven College, when the locals screamed their lungs out for the band and asked for autographs and pictures "like we were the Beatles!"<br />
<br />
Playlist:<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="text-align: left;">
<span dir="LTR">SKJ, Milt Jackson composition, for
his wife Sandra K.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="text-align: left;">
<span dir="LTR">The Most Beautiful Girl in the World</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="text-align: left;">
<span dir="LTR">East of the Sun, West of the Moon (which my brother from another mother Josh and I experienced on the way southbound from Beer Sheva, as the sun set to our right and the nearly full moon rose to our left while slowing down and enjoying the view, as Josh does best).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="text-align: left;">
<span dir="LTR">Halleluyah Time, by Oscar Peterson</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="text-align: left;">
<span dir="LTR">I Have Dreamed</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="text-align: left;">
<span dir="LTR">Footprints</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="RTL" style="text-align: left;">
<span dir="LTR">Getting to It, title track from McBride's
first album</span></div>
Encore--Dad, where were you when I needed you for the "Name that Song" game :)<br />
<br />
The band stayed backstage for quite awhile, relishing in the second consecutive night of electric crowds. I heard McBride shout, "Did you feel the <b>energy</b>?!?" I thanked all the guys profusely for coming to Israel (now <a href="http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Music/Article.aspx?id=223756">McBride </a>has made seven trips to perform in Israel). I told McBride that Dad was smiling down from heaven on the heavenly festival, and he told me that his grandpa was up there chilling with Dad.<br />
<br />
<img alt="2012-08-02 06.24.18.jpg" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=990d3b3dd7&view=att&th=138ed4ccf927a90c&attid=0.1&disp=thd&realattid=1409296319501041664-1&zw" />
<br />
Morning services, Red Sea style, with the sun rising over the desert mountains in Jordan.<br />
<br />
<img alt="2012-08-03 00.18.23.jpg" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=990d3b3dd7&view=att&th=138ed4ccefb6cdda&attid=0.1&disp=thd&realattid=1409296342802497536-1&zw" /><br />
The whole South is rocking in the summer--this was Balkan Beat Box at Beer Sheva's לילה לבן/<i>Lila Levan </i>"All Nighter." Danny Sanderson and the <i>Parvarim</i> (with the Beer Sheva Sinfonietta) were outstanding warm-up acts as I caught three shows across the Old City.<br />
<br />
I have a ton more to say, but this post is already pretty long and it's late here.<br />
The main source of sadness this week was the loss of the one and only Von "Vonski" Freeman, Chicago saxophone legend. I'll have to reflect on the great gift he gave to me and so many others on many a Tuesday night at a better hour, but for now here's a great one from winter 2011...<br />
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<br />
Take care and stay cool for now! With thoughts of snowy Chicago nights to keep me cool in the hot Negev,<br />
אריק/EricEric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-42153655719135440802012-07-11T00:09:00.004+03:002012-07-11T00:09:55.815+03:004 years!A presidential term. An Olympiad.<br />
Four years ago today (I started this post before midnight), I landed on a Nefesh B'Nefesh Aliyah flight and began my journey to Israeli-ness.<br />
<br />
Today I sit in Beer Sheva fluent in Hebrew (I work, studi<strong>ed</strong> for my Master's in Gerontology and even date in Hebrew). That Master's strengthened my Hebrew drastically. I look back two years to when I enrolled at Ben-Gurion University and realize how much of my vocabulary I acquired during my studies. I also reflect on entire (long) days of work, all in Hebrew, and realize that grad school prepared my "Hebrew endurance" so that I can hang during a full day of meetings, in a language that left me completely and utterly clueless just 8 years ago.<br />
<br />
It's right back to work in the morning, but I was delighted to celebrate 4 years tonight with a beer brewed in my backyard at the neighborhood bar. <br />
<br />
Now I hope to wake up to an AL victory in what has become the most important game of the year, the Midsummer Classic. GO RANGERS and have a great rest of the week. Lots of love,<br />
אריק/EricEric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814347830411879293.post-57657520094537712402012-06-22T00:15:00.000+03:002012-06-22T10:50:03.892+03:00MA - Officially officialIn rather anticlimactic fashion, now it's officially official that I am a Master in Gerontology from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. An administrative oversight led me to believe I was done almost four months ago, but it turned out I had to write one more paper for a required seminar, leaving me with two extra credits for a total of 44 (that fantastic Entrepreneurship and Leadership MBA course was a very worthwhile mistake in pushing me two credits above the required total).<br />
<br />
The first thing to do now is send a huge Thank You - תודה/<i>Todah</i> - to everyone who helped me along these last two years and a few months. Especially dear friends and classmates who helped me in that last push for the degree, but everyone who studied with me, hosted me for Shabbat meals, gave me rides between Jerusalem and Beer Sheva, believed in and supported me, edited my papers at all sorts of odd hours across the globe, and made this just an amazingly fun ride that I'll never forget.<br />
<br />
My sweet dad called me the day before my first exam almost two years ago to let me know the cancer had come back. Needless to say, it was all uphill grade-wise from that first wave of exams. I pounded out the 2010 fall semester despite many a late night of postseason baseball during the first month of class (let's just say I had a ton of catching up to do in Statistics), made a quick visit to Dallas before the spring term, and then got the dreadful news that I needed to go right back to Texas for a final visit to dear Dad.<br />
<br />
Since my return, I've done my best to dedicate my studies to Dad's blessed memory. And I'm darn proud of myself that I pulled it off! I learned a ton (so much Hebrew!), met incredible people, failed three times at the Hebrew exemption exam before knocking it out with the Ben-Gurion home court advantage, and am so glad I listened to everyone who said Ben-Gurion is the place to be as a student. Man were they right! <span style="background-color: white;">So tomorrow night's Shabbat dinner and afterparty will feature a steady flow of champagne to celebrate in style, כמו שצריך/</span><i style="background-color: white;">cmo sh'tzarich</i><span style="background-color: white;"> ("as you need to" is the literal translation).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">But if all that wasn't anticlimactic enough, now I have to wait until...June 2013 to get the diploma! That's just how they roll here in a country where you can often turn in a paper months late, but only until December 31. So Monday night I'll celebrate with my friends who finished everything by New Year's Eve 2011 at their ceremony...who's coming to party with me in Beer Sheva next summer?!?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">So now that I can fondly reminisce on the journey, here are the two big student videos from 2011-2012: </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">"<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT5H-knx_dw">Shit that students say</a>" (we don't have mascots here, so you can't throw a "Wolverine" into the title). The very relevant line for this guy who didn't always manage to get his papers in on time is at 1:43- "טוב, די, הפסקה <i>tov, dye, hafsaka</i> - enough, break time." As you can see, Yael's paper includes only a title!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">And that one refers to the previous satirical music video: </span><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2RPF53DQ4U">Empire State of Ben Gurion</a>, a take on Jay-Z's song about some city on the east coast. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">The chorus starts: "הבטיחו לי הווי סטודנטיאלי - <i>hivtichu li havai studentiali</i> - they promised me the good student life," as my friends most certainly did to me. The appearance of <a href="http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%93%D7%95%D7%93%D7%95_%D7%96%D7%A8">Dudu Zar</a>, which I had to figure out, was huge for this generation of students, who grew up watching him on a children's TV show.</span><br />
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So now that I at long last don't have a paper to write (!), I can get back to basics, blog more, go back and get some great pics up here, and of course continue to work for Project La'ad, helping South Israel's Holocaust survivors to maximize their rights and benefits. I'm ready to take on new challenges, and as I learned from my best friend from the program, Amiram, "לאכול אותם בלי מלח - <i>le'echol otam bli melach</i> - ~to tear it up (literally to eat them without salt)." Or as I used for my anthem for the last exam in March, "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dgOhxgFios">אלף כבאים לא יצליחו לכבות אותי</a> - <i>elef cabaim lo yatzlichu l'chabot oti</i> - a thousand firefighters couldn't put me out." I discovered that 1980 Doda classic by Gidi Gov and Danny Sanderson on the radio on a long winter drive from Beer Sheva to Zichron Yaacov. I'm feeling empowered, a feeling typefied by this Avraham Tal song, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5mHVqtYnuo">מחוזקים לעולם</a> - <i>m'chuzakim le'olam </i>- forever strengthened:<br />
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I'll leave it at that for now, already missing being a student at Ben-Gurion, but believe you me...<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Umu7Hxc_c">the best is yet to come</a>!<br />
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As I go to bed, I'll throw in one last video, one that will never, EVER grow old; one that I'll be able to watch over and over and from which I'll be able to draw inspiration until the day I die:<br />
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For tonight at least, those magical Dallas Mavericks are still the defending NBA champs. Getting back the last grade to officially finish my MA felt like the so-special moment at 4:50, with Shawn Marion's mom saying through tears, "We did it baby!" I'll wait for that hug from my mom back in Dallas at the end of August during a brief US visit...<br />
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שבת שלום לכולם/Shabbat Shalom!<br />
אריק/EricEric Samuelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10049440525896163649noreply@blogger.com0