Thanks a lot, Belgium

I had decided to take yesterday off as a Baby Day, and don’t normally post on Fridays.  But after reading Treppenwitz’s Thursday post about the recent comments by Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht in “support” of Israel’s existence, I couldn’t resist. Trep’s post says it all about the absurdity and bizarre nature (not to [...]

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English rant #8: It’s

In the course of writing my rant on apostrophe abuse, I came across another Bob the Angry Flower cartoon regarding the word it’s. Here it is: Note that while possession is often indicated by the addition of ’s (e.g. Shimshonit’s pet peeve) the word it is an exception to this rule. One makes it possessive [...]

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I’m a boy, I’m a boy*

With thanks to Hashem Shimshonit, the Cap’n, and the Crunch girls take great joy in announcing the birth of Bill, the newest addition to our family. He is healthy, the spitting image of his mother as a newborn, and will be named (officially), please God, at his brit next Monday morning. Mazal tov! *The title [...]

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Haveil Havalim #202: the Superhero edition

This edition of Haveil Havalim is dedicated to the soldiers of the IDF and their outstanding service, professionalism, and humanity in the recent Gaza war. It is full of links to posts from the J-Blogosphere on Israel and Gaza, Israeli life and politics, Judaism, Jewish life, anti-Semitism, personal, art and photography, and humor.

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Presidential quiz

Years ago, when I was teaching American history, I put together a folder of lesson plans for substitute teachers to use in case of my absence. Remembering what a (fun) challenge it was for me as a history student to learn the names of the U.S. presidents, I put together the following exercise. To those [...]

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Kosher Cooking Carnival: The Green Edition

Check out Ilana-Davita’s blog for the latest Kosher Cooking Carnival.  This is the Green Edition, with stories, traditional and less traditional recipes, and (in this edition) mostly meatless recipes.  Bon appetit!

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My “West Wing” obsession

The Cap’n and I used to go to movies. Sunday night was usually date night, and with babysitters in Israel charging in shekels what the off-duty nannies we could get in the U.S. were charging in dollars, movie-going is not the wallet-stripping experience here that it once was. And then it hit: the Great Movie [...]

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English rant #7: Apostrophes

Back when I first hatched the idea of featuring English rants on the blog, the rant I looked forward to writing the most—and the one I think the English-speaking world needs the most—is this one. It’s about apostrophes, and while I don’t remember seeing many apostrophe errors as a kid, I can’t look in any [...]

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What do I pay you for again?

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting around the Shabbat lunch table with friends when someone mentioned that Israel was being condemned for its assault on the Palestinians in Gaza by none other than Annie Lennox and Bianca Jagger. I couldn’t help but laugh. No, seriously. They were joining a protest with the likes [...]

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Cleansing the fairy tale palate

The Cap’n and I are notorious junkies for J.K. Rowling’s books. We were hooked on the Harry Potter series for its language, character development, and subtly unfolding plots (sometimes over several volumes). While we haven’t donned robes on Purim and walked around waving branches pulled from trees, the Cap’n did take a day and a [...]

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In praise of the Jewish Diaspora

It is a rare thing to hear Israelis praise the Diaspora, and yet in the past few days, I’ve read several pieces in the Jerusalem Post that have done just that. A week ago last Friday, the Post had an editorial thanking the Jewish communities throughout the world for their public demonstrations in support of [...]

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To honor the righteous

The clutter in the Crunch household has gotten completely out of hand and must be eradicated. To that end, I am taking the day off from writing and instead will share a d’var Torah suited to the times and this week’s parashah, Shemot. It is from Rabbi Jack Riemer and is in praise of the [...]

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English rant #6: Passing the time

I almost can’t believe I’m writing on this topic, but I just can’t stand it any longer. I have twice read people’s descriptions of their hobbies as pasttimes (and that was before Googling “past times” in a search for images for this post). I looked this one up just to make sure I am not [...]

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Living in a state of normalcy

Our dear friends, X and Y, recently concluded a visit with us here in Israel. They spent entire days out pounding the pavement, seeing the sights, and enjoying free-flowing kosher cuisine. At night, Y blogged assiduously about their adventures to keep friends and family up to date. One friend commented on one of Y’s posts [...]

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What on earth is “MOOSHY”?

(Please excuse the insanely large picture. It was too pretty to resist.) My husband recently picked up a free copy of a magazine in one of the stores in Efrat. Its title is IsraTimes, and it aims to appeal to English-speaking immigrants and tourists, both observant and non-observant with short articles and features on health, [...]

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Banana chocolate chip muffins

First, a note: Rereading my post from last Thursday, I realize I did a pretty poor job of representing McCarthy’s article. I have gone back and edited the post, including a summary of the important points McCarthy makes. Now, to today’s post. While I am absorbed in the events unfolding in Gaza, I also need [...]

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An article worth reading

My fellow blogger, Treppenwitz, has posted a link to an article which addresses the significance of the current war in Gaza on a number of levels. There are three points that McCarthy makes in this article that are worth noting. One is one regarding the prospects for peace right now; a second is about the [...]

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English rant #5: Passionate

Today’s rant is dedicated to the wanton overuse of the word passionate in the United States. Growing up with my nose in books, I usually only encountered the word passionate in connection with infatuation, love-making (in the mostly verbal, Jane Austen sort of way) or, in J.K. Rowling’s terms, “a cauldron full of hot, strong [...]

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What really happened in the Middle East

Someone from my shul in America recently sent a link to the shul’s chat list for a “10-minute multi-media presentation on the history and background of the Arab-Israeli conflict.” I have watched it and give it a high approval rating. It sticks to the facts, many of which are energetically ignored, denied, or obfuscated by [...]

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Pardon for Pollard

President George W. Bush has hardly enjoyed a term of office free of gaffes. He has engaged the U.S. in two wars, neither of which had clear goals or have reached successful conclusions. The economy is in a shambles, the U.S. is as dependent as ever on fossil fuels, the environment has been shoved to [...]

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