of Yoga and Hummus

Guess why I smile a lot? Because its worth it!

2011-11-17T00:44:00.001+02:00

Derek Sivers: How to start a movement : the first follower is the one that transforms a lone nut into a leader

2011-10-30T00:33:00.000+02:00

Mystery...

2011-10-10T05:37:00.001+02:00

Guilty (for Yum Kippur)

2011-10-10T05:34:00.001+02:00

My first professional publication

2011-07-19T17:51:00.001+03:00

In the May-June 2011 Wharton Leadership Digest

Back to the future

2011-06-21T18:48:00.005+03:00

Original blog post

This is how I feel

2011-05-30T00:59:00.000+03:00

I miss yoga

2011-05-23T16:22:00.001+03:00

Let my people go

2011-04-18T17:03:00.002+03:00

It's a beautiful day, and I can't see it....

2011-04-17T18:45:00.000+03:00

It's the simple things....

2011-03-03T16:15:00.000+02:00

On the iNternet, Nobody Knows You're a Dog

2011-02-20T17:12:00.003+02:00

שוד החמורים הגדול, מאיר שלו, ידיעות אחרונות

2011-02-20T17:09:00.001+02:00

אמל זאת תקווה, חוט מושך מן הלשון, אלמוג בֶּהַר, שירים 1996-‏2008

2011-02-20T17:05:00.001+02:00

I do not usually shar political clips but I think this one, though full with inaccuracies, is a very good summary of the Israeli-Palestini

2011-02-20T17:04:00.002+02:00

Is this real life?

2011-02-19T17:30:00.000+02:00

(ביום שבו נולדה בתי אף אחד לא מת (יהודה עמיחי

2011-02-19T05:38:00.002+02:00

Beybey Rudi

2011-02-13T16:16:00.000+02:00

From סרטונים

What can you learn from a strcok

2011-01-26T07:25:00.000+02:00

How tweeter and Facebook status changed blogging (for the better)

2011-01-23T00:31:00.004+02:00

Clive Thompson on How Tweets and Texts Nurture In-Depth Analysis
December 27, 2010, Wired January 2011

We’re often told that the Internet has destroyed people’s patience for long, well-thought-out arguments. After all, the ascendant discussions of our day are text messages, tweets, and status updates. The popularity of this endless fire hose of teensy utterances means we’ve lost our appetite for consuming—and creating—slower, reasoned contemplation. Right?
I’m not so sure. In fact, I think something much more complex and interesting is happening: The torrent of short-form thinking is actually a catalyst for more long-form meditation.
When something newsworthy happens today—Brett Favre losing to the Jets, news of a new iPhone, a Brazilian election runoff—you get a sudden blizzard of status updates. These are just short takes, and they’re often half-baked or gossipy and may not even be entirely true. But that’s OK; they’re not intended to be carefully constructed. Society is just chewing over what happened, forming a quick impression of What It All Means.
The long take is the opposite: It’s a deeply considered report and analysis, and it often takes weeks, months, or years to produce. It used to be that only traditional media, like magazines or documentaries or books, delivered the long take. But now, some of the most in-depth stuff I read comes from academics or businesspeople penning big blog essays, Dexter fans writing 5,000-word exegeses of the show, and nonprofits like the Pew Charitable Trusts producing exhaustively researched reports on American life.
The long take also thrives on the long tail. Whereas a tweet becomes dated within minutes, a really smart long take holds value for years. Back in the ’90s, my magazine articles vanished after the issue left the newsstand. But now that the pieces are online, readers email me every week saying they’ve stumbled upon something years old.
The real loser here is the middle take. This is what the weeklies like Time and Newsweek have historically offered: reportage and essays produced a few days after major events, with a bit of analysis sprinkled on top. They’re neither fast enough to be conversational nor slow enough to be truly deep. The Internet has essentially demonstrated how unsatisfying that sort of thinking can be.
This trend has already changed blogging. Ten years ago, my favorite bloggers wrote middle takes—a link with a couple of sentences of commentary—and they’d update a few times a day. Once Twitter arrived, they began blogging less often but with much longer, more-in-depth essays. Why?
“I save the little stuff for Twitter and blog only when I have something big to say,” as blogger Anil Dash put it. It turns out readers prefer this: One survey found that the most popular blog posts today are the longest ones, 1,600 words on average.
Even our reading tools are morphing to accommodate the rise of long takes. The design firm Arc90 released Readability, an app that renders website text as one clean, ad-free column down the center of your screen—perfect for distraction-free long-form reading—and it got so popular that Apple baked it into the current version of Safari. Or consider the iPad: It’s been criticized as “only” a consumption device, but that’s the whole point; it’s superb for consuming long takes. Instapaper, an app created by Marco Arment to time-shift online material for later reading, has racked up nearly a million users with hardly any advertising. “It’s for reading,” Arment says, “when you’re ready to be attentive.”
Which, despite reports to the contrary, we are. We talk a lot, then we dive deep.

Countries are also brands

2011-01-21T20:25:00.001+02:00

We are used to thinking of Branding in terms of products. FutureBrand Country Brand Index together with BBC world news has been measuring the strength's of countries' brands since 2005.

I am happy to report that this year Israel climbed 11 spots to #30. Israel was also crowned as one of the ‘Rising Starts of 2010′ along with Chile, Argentina and Iceland (Iceland? really?- read more why in the article)

http://www.vccafe.com/israel/futurebrand-2010-israel-up-11-spots-in-ranking-as-a-country-brand/

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/canada-claims-top-spot-in-futurebrands-2010-country-brand-index-107296573.html

A video is worth a million words

2011-01-21T18:10:00.003+02:00

I WANT A HD HERO

Then I just need this life style...

והנה אתמול מתת עליי

2011-01-21T17:57:00.005+02:00

ב-20 השנים האחרונות סיימנו את שיחות הטלפון ב'מתה עליך'.
הייתי אומרת כך ואת היית משיבה מתה עליך כפליים
והנה אתמול מתת עליי.
אני לעולמי עד מתה עלייך

מיקה אלמוג מספידה את סבתה סוניה פרס

So Dark....

2011-01-21T17:57:00.001+02:00

Tough Crowed

2011-01-21T17:55:00.001+02:00

Some Kids Never Learn

2011-01-21T17:51:00.000+02:00

Dog Days Are Over

2011-01-21T17:49:00.000+02:00

"Finance is basically a quantitative profession where everyone measures everything" The Surprises of 2011 by Byron Wien

2011-01-19T17:13:00.000+02:00

http://www.blackstone.com/cps/rde/xchg/bxcom/hs/firm_commentary_2011-01-04.htm

This is the twenty-sixth time I have prepared a list of The Ten Surprises and I can tell you it doesn’t get easier. My definition of a surprise is a market-influencing event that the average investor would only assign a one out of three chance of taking place during the year, but that I believe is “probable,” that the event has a better than 50% chance of happening. The original idea for the Ten Surprises came from my analysis of my own investment performance. All the serious money I had made for myself and others had come from having a non-consensus idea that turned out to be right.

When I first started doing The Ten Surprises in the 1980s, I did not even think about keeping score, but that was naïve. Finance is basically a quantitative profession where everyone measures everything. Over the years I have generally gotten five or six of The Surprises pretty much on target, depending on how generous you want to be with the scoring. The purpose of The Surprises, however, is not to prove that I have some ability to predict the future. I do not believe anyone can really do that. The Surprises are presented to stretch my own thinking (and perhaps yours) so that you will seriously consider a set of reasonably possible events that you might have previously thought were unlikely. In this month’s Commentary I will present The Ten Surprises of 2011 and a set of “also rans.” The “also rans” or alternatives did not make the basic list because I thought their chance of taking place during the year was less than 50% or they were not events that I personally thought were as important as the basic list of ten.

But first let’s review The Surprises of 2010. Looking at the overall list, I think it’s fair to say it was a below average year. The previous year, 2009, was the best one I had ever had with about eight or nine of The Surprises working out, so perhaps I should have been prepared for a rough year as the process reverts to the mean. In assessing last year, it is clear that I was too optimistic on the United States economy and the Democrats’ performance in the November election and, like many, too pessimistic on bonds and the U.S. equity market. I completely missed the biggest surprise of the year: the Greek financial crisis and related sovereign debt problems in the European Union. Some of the surprises that were particularly off the mark early in the year began to look better in the fourth quarter, however.

Examining the first surprise on the U.S. economy, I might have been overly influenced by the strength of the fourth quarter of 2009. As it turned out, a large part of that was inventory building and that continued into the first quarter of 2010. Then the pace slowed down significantly. I had thought growth in 2010 might have been as high as 5% and the unemployment rate would drop below 9%. Those estimates were not realized. I was right that the Standard & Poor’s 500 would earn more than $80 (operating) which was one of the highest estimates at the time. It now looks like earnings will come in at $85. Because I thought the economy would be strong, I expected the Federal Reserve to engage in a series of tightening moves in the second surprise. In fact, the Fed was accommodating all year and began a second phase of quantitative easing in the fourth quarter.

In the third surprise I believed U.S. government bond interest rates would rise for two reasons. First I thought the stronger pace of the economy might force rates higher, and second I believed foreign investors would become concerned by the huge Federal deficits and demand a higher rate of interest on longer-dated bonds. As it turned out, the economy was weak and a general atmosphere of apprehension prevailed in the international investment environment, driving many into U.S. government debt as a kind of safe haven. That thinking also benefited gold, a long-time stalwart of The Surprises that was not on last year’s list. During the course of the year, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury dropped from 3.835% to 2.33%, but closed the year at 3.4%.

The fourth surprise, my thought that the Standard & Poor’s 500 would be flat for the year, looked pretty good through the end of August. The S&P crossed 1115 no less than 165 times in the first eight months but bearishness became unsustainably extreme by the time of the convening of economists at Jackson Hole at the end of the summer, and the stock market took off in September, historically the worst month of the year for equities. The S&P 500 ended 2010 at 1258.

In my fifth surprise I thought the dollar would surprise investors in 2010 and be strong against both the euro and the yen. My argument for this was based on the observation that the dollar was attractive on a purchasing power parity basis. The euro dropped well below my 1.30 target but despite disappointments in the Japanese economy, the yen was exceedingly strong, dropping close to 80 to the dollar at one point. Longer-term prospects for the U.S. currency remain problematic because of the large trade and budget deficits and easy monetary policy.

In preparing last year’s Surprises I tried to analyze the Japanese market and economy carefully, concluding that there were many undervalued stocks there and the economy had a good chance of improving because of China’s growth. In the sixth surprise I thought Japan’s equities might actually outperform Europe and the United States. As it turned out the Nikkei 225 declined, slightly, but the strength of the yen against the dollar reversed the loss for an unhedged U.S. investor. On a dollar basis, the Nikkei 225 did outperform most European and Asian markets and caught up to the Dow Jones and almost exceeded the S&P 500.

For the seventh surprise I thought President Obama would assert himself on the climate control issue. Early in the year he announced plans for two nuclear plants to take the place of electrical power generating facilities using coal. Unfortunately he then became distracted by the healthcare bill, financial service regulatory reform and other issues and did not aggressively pursue environmental issues further, but at least he made a start.

Because I believed the economy would do better than consensus estimates, I thought the Democrats would lose fewer seats than the political pundits estimated. That was the eighth surprise. The performance of the economy was disappointing and a general anti-incumbent attitude overtook the American electorate. The Democratic Party lost control of the House of Representatives and its majority in the Senate was reduced as well. At the time of the November election it was the general feeling that the outcome would produce “gridlock” in Congress and that was viewed as a positive because it was thought that most legislation was unproductive and added to the deficit. Since that time a political compromise was reached, extending the Bush tax cuts and continuing unemployment benefits. While both parties claimed victory, I believe the passage of the bill represents a move to the center by the administration and is a positive sign for the political backdrop going forward.

The financial crisis of 2008 was surely going to lead to some regulatory changes for the financial services industry. While there was much concern throughout the industry about this legislation early in the year, I thought that the reform bill would be constructive when it was finally passed and would focus on areas needing attention like consumer protection, mortgage lending, derivatives and bank capital ratios and what that capital was used for (e.g., proprietary trading, hedge funds and private equity). Like the healthcare bill, the final legislation is not as onerous as some feared and that was the ninth surprise. While there are those who would argue that any legislation is bad, I believe this bill covers some important neglected areas (e.g., derivatives) and is generally positive.

The tenth surprise is usually a long shot and last year’s was no exception. I thought there would be a regime change in Iran and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be replaced by a more moderate leader who would not be so anti-Western and negative on Israel. The leadership in Iran did not change but the younger people in the country are putting pressure on the government to create more economic opportunity. The sanctions are hurting and the country needs aid and investment from the industrialized world. That will not happen as long as Iran is pursuing the development of nuclear weapons. The Green Movement that had some momentum after the 2009 election has been suppressed by the clerics, but it is not clear that the country’s present course will endure.

So that’s a review of last year. This year’s Surprises have a positive tone once again. In the investment business there is very little difference between being early and being wrong and I was clearly too positive last year, but perhaps the economy is improving and some of the events I was looking for in 2010 may take place this year. In reviewing the 2011 Surprises I find many of them are in the direction of the consensus, but my view is more extreme. For this reason they are perhaps not as “surprising” as in the past. As a result I have prepared a list of alternate surprises, the “also rans,” that includes some of my more speculative possibilities. While these alternates are less likely, I hope you find thinking about them useful.

The Surprises of 2011

1. The continuation of the Bush tax cuts coupled with the extension of unemployment benefits has put all working Americans in a better mood. Real Gross Domestic Product rises close to 5% in 2011 driven by improved trade and capital spending in addition to stronger retail sales. Unemployment drops below 9%.

2. The prospect of increasing Federal budget deficits and rising government debt finally begins to weigh on the bond market. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury approaches 5% as foreign investors become more demanding. Spreads with corporate fixed income securities narrow.

3. Encouraged by renewed economic momentum the Standard & Poor’s 500 rises close to its old high of 1500. A broad range of sectors participate, but telecommunications and utilities lag. With earnings improving, valuations seem low and individual investors return to equities for the first time since the financial crisis. Merger and acquisition activity becomes intense and the market reaches a blow-off euphoria. Stocks correct in the second half as interest rates rise.

4. Although inflation remains benign, the price of gold rises above $1600 as investors across the world place more of their assets in something they consider “real.” Sovereign wealth funds of countries with significant dollar reserves also become big buyers. Hedge funds keep thinking the price rise is becoming parabolic and sell their positions and some even short the metal, but gold keeps climbing and they scramble back in.

5. Worried about inflation and excessive growth, the Chinese decide to use their currency as a policy tool. They manage the value of the renminbi aggressively to keep the growth of the economy below 10% and to prevent consumer prices from increasing above the 4%–5% range. The move is viewed as a precursor to the world-wide adoption of a basket including the renminbi as an alternative to the use of the dollar as the principal reserve currency.

6. Rising standards of living in the developing world seriously increase the demand for agricultural commodities. The price of corn rises to $8.00, wheat to $10.00 and soybeans to $16.00. Commodities become a component of more institutional portfolios.

7. The housing situation improves. Although the inventory of unsold homes remains high, the oversupply is drawn down substantially, contrasting with an increase in 2010. The Case-Shiller gradually heads higher and housing starts exceed 600,000.

8. Continuing demand from the developing world and a failure to bring onstream new supply causes the price of oil to rise to $115 per barrel. The higher price at the pump fails to discourage driving, increase sales of hybrid vehicles or cause Congress to initiate conservation measures.

9. Frustrated by the lack of progress against the Taliban and the corruption of the Karzai government, President Obama concludes that whenever American troops return home, Afghanistan will once again become a tribal state ruled by warlords. He accelerates the withdrawal of most military personnel to the end of 2011. Coupled with the pullout of forces in Iraq, this will leave the Middle East without a major Western presence in the face of rising fears of terrorism.

10. Under duress Angela Merkel leads the way in European financial reform. The weaker countries, having pledged to cut their budget deficits in half by 2014, are provided additional transitional aid by the European Union (with Germany’s backing) and the International Monetary Fund as long as they implement their austerity programs, increase some taxes and still show modest growth. The European financial crisis becomes less of a concern. The policies put in place prove psychologically satisfying to the financial markets but harmful in the longer term because they are palliative and do not represent solutions.

"ALSO RANS”

11. While Afghanistan and Iraq cool down as trouble spots, Pakistan and North Korea flare up. The former continues to be a troublesome breeding ground for terrorists and the latter initiates further hostile attacks on South Korea. China does not become involved in a major way and the international community seems helpless.

12. The broad international sanctions on Iran finally begin to work. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad enters into negotiations to scale back the country’s nuclear weapons development program in exchange for financial aid and foreign investment. Pressure from the country’s youth to provide more economic opportunity is the key factor in the change in policy. Talk about bombing by Israel or the U.S. subsides.

13. Rising interest rates and a strong economy allow the dollar to strengthen against the euro and the yen. Although the European financial crisis abates as austerity programs and higher taxes are put in place and Japan avoids falling back into recession, America becomes the developed market of choice for global investors.

14. Sarah Palin announces she will seek the Republican nomination for President amidst the cheers of Tea Party supporters. More moderate Republicans fear her candidacy will diminish the chances of their party winning in 2012 and try to blunt her efforts. Rick Perry, governor of Texas, becomes a contender. Mike Bloomberg is mentioned. On the Democratic side, liberals feel Obama has betrayed them and desperately try to find a challenger. With the economy improving, the prospect of a second term for Obama becomes more likely.

15. The Russian government decides it is the laggard of the emerging markets and steps up its efforts to become more investor friendly. The Kremlin agrees to further nuclear weapons reduction and provides assurance to companies willing to invest there that the rule of law will prevail. The Russian equity market soars.

16. Laws related to marijuana usage are liberalized in more states. Recognizing that the drug may not be addictive, the public’s attitudes have evolved over the last thirty years, and this, along with a desire to alleviate the over-crowding of jails, causes state legislatures to take a more liberal position. Drug abuse groups are outraged.

17. Infrastructure problems in the United States become serious. New York subways are inoperative for days as a result of an electrical problem in the signal system. Gridlock snarls Los Angeles freeways, and to encourage cooperative commuting, high-occupancy vehicles are required to carry three or more people. State and local governments complain they lack the funds to deal with the problems and Washington refuses to help.

18. A major state fails to pay interest on a municipal bond issue because of a lack of funds, causing havoc in the municipal bond market.

19. In spite of fears of tenth anniversary terrorist attacks, 9/11/11 becomes a peaceful non-event because of excellent intelligence and surveillance.

20. While climate change activists remain shrill, the issue recedes in importance in the United States. Cold weather prevails during the winter and the summer heat is not oppressive. Support increases for a broader use of natural gas by utilities and public transportation and its price rises to $6.00 per mcf. In Europe and Asia, however, environmental initiatives continue to move ahead.

Next month I will discuss The Ten Surprises of 2011 in more detail. The first step in doing The Surprises is to identify the consensus; you must have a clear idea of that so you can determine what might be a “surprise.” I had a harder time than usual doing that this year. I work on The Ten Surprises over a period of several months and discuss various possibilities with a number of people. I especially want to thank George Soros, who has been helpful in the process since the 1980s. Also providing ideas and criticizing my own are James Hoge and Gideon Rose of Foreign Affairs at the Council on Foreign Relations; my Third Thursday discussion group of former Wall Street research directors; the person I refer to as The Smartest Man in Europe in my July essays; Tom Bailey, founder and former Chairman of Janus Funds; my former colleague at Morgan Stanley, Henry McVey; and countless others who e-mail their thoughts to me. The final list is my own and I am accountable for it. If this year’s surprises work out we all will have made some money and the world will be a better place, so I’m cheering for them even more than ever.

Isrealis are NEVER freiers

2011-01-12T20:18:00.000+02:00

As a fallow-up to the kitbag question, this is another Israeli phenomenon

[Waste] My time... [spend] your money, From TreppenwitZ, Oct 8, 2007

Israeli supermarkets are the bane of my (and most non-native-born Israeli's) existence.
We will never understand the folks who walk into the supermarket, park their shopping cart on a checkout line as a place-holder, and then proceed to wander around the store casually picking out items.
We will never understand the people who walk into the meat department, tap someone on the shoulder and say "I'm after you" and then go off to make other purchases... then swoop back into line 20 minutes later, pissing off all the frayerim (suckers) who were dumb enough to actually wait on line.
We will never understand the absolute shamelessness with which many shoppers will stand and argue with the cashier that they should be entitled to a particular special/discount despite the fact that they have clearly picked out a different product/size/number of items than the special advertised in the circulars. They will do this for as long as it takes until either the cashier gives in and lets them have the better price... or until they decide to casually stroll back to the aisle to get the correct item(s)... while a long line of angry shoppers waits helplessly behind them.
We will never understand why Israeli supermarkets haven't figured out that the only remaining bottleneck in the check-out process is the additional time everyone spends bagging their own groceries. This single task defeats all the speed and convenience gained by the bar-code scanners. After scanning a cartful of groceries in recored time, the cashier can't complete the transaction or go on to the next customer until the previous shopper's goods are bagged and off the end of the conveyor belt.
I could go on... but I won't. Because yesterday I had what is, without a doubt, my most enjoyable Israeli supermarket experience ever!
After work I ducked into the local 'Mega' because Zahava had called to ask me to pick up a few things. I needed to buy a box of Splenda (actually, the Israeli version of it), some cold cuts, a bag of sandwich rolls and a package of cheese (don't worry, I wasn't going to eat these together... sheesh!). The list was so short that I didn't even have to take a shopping cart.
When I finished picking out the goods I walked up to the 'Express Checkout' line and noticed that it was fairly long. However, I wasn't overly concerned since the sign clearly stated '10 items or less'... so things should move along quickly.
Yeah right.
Directly in front of me in line I noticed two women with a shopping cart that was 2/3 full. I politely pointed out that they were in the express line and that they had too many items. But instead of begging my forgiveness and going to another line, one of the women gave me a mirthless grin and said, "We're together... we each have ten items". The two of them stood with arms folded across ample bosoms, daring me to challenge their clever ploy.
I took another look at their shopping cart and my blood pressure started to climb as I noticed that just the items on top approached the stated number... there must have been two or three times that number of things buried underneath.
This is the moment of truth that most immigrants are intimately familiar with. Do you marshal your limited Hebrew and make a fuss... risking having unhelpful idiots around you jump in with "What's the big deal... just let them go... it isn't worth all the yelling"? Or do you sit quietly and feel like the biggest frayer in the world because somebody is flouting the rules and wasting your valuable time in the process?
This time I decided to make a fuss. I had a small armful of items (as did all of the people in the line that had formed behind us), and we were going to be trapped in what was supposed to be the express line while these two thoughtless women bought a huge cart of groceries!
I cleared my throat and calmly said, "Excuse me, but even if you are together, there are a lot more than 20 items in your cart. You have to go to another line."
The second woman, who had remained silent up until this point chimed in, "It's close enough to twenty... and who are you anyway, the shopping cart police?"
By now most of the people behind us were watching with interest... as were some of those ahead of us. It infuriated me that none of them spoke up in support, but at least they hadn't told me to pipe down, so I continued, "No, I'm not the shopping cart police, but I'm also not a frayer. Anyone who can count can see that you have too many items to be on the express line. Forget about 20 items... you have at least twice that number!"
Both women remained facing me with arms folded, but I was pleased to see they were no longer smiling. The one who had spoken first said, "What does it matter... it may be a few more or a few less, but we have about twenty items... and so we're not going to another line!"
At this point I decided to take another approach. I said, "OK, I don't want to argue with you... but I also don't want to be a frayer... so let's be fair. Since it's possible I'm wrong, I'll make you an offer: If there are twenty items or less - no forget that - if there are twenty five items or less, I'll pay for your entire cart of groceries. But if there are more than 25 items, you pay for my few things, OK?
Suddenly, the people around me began to come to life. A chorus of "That seems fair" and "if you're so sure then you should accept his offer" joined a general consensus of nods. The women sputtered and tried to wave me off, but I pressed my advantage:
"No, no... I'm offering you a great deal. If you don't want to take it you can go to another line. But if you really feel you have the correct number of items to be on this line, you have nothing to lose by accepting my offer."
They were trapped. Pride wouldn't allow them to go to another line, so they both nodded.
A Yemenite man standing behind me offered to count the items and there was general agreement that an uninterested party be responsible for verifying the number of items. When he reached 46 there were still a number of uncounted items in the cart... so I stopped him.
By this time the family in front of the women was finishing up with their small purchase so I smiled and gestured chivalrously for them to start loading their 46+ items onto the conveyor belt. The cashier took a jaundiced look at the nearly full shopping cart and seemed poised to say something, but several people in line preempted her, saying 'It's OK, we don't mind".
When the cashier was scanning the last of the women's groceries, I casually dumped my few things on the belt and said (loud enough for everyone on line to hear) "Also these please... my friends have offered to pay for my things too."
The cashier just shrugged and continued to beep the products past the bar-code scanner. The two women just glowered at me, but the happy stares of my fellow shoppers kept them from giving voice to the protest behind their eyes.
While they were still busy bagging their groceries, I breezed past the two women and walked towards the exit of the store. There was a tense moment when the security guard asked to see my receipt, but he seemed satisfied when I gestured vaguely towards the two women who were busily reloading their shopping cart and said, "It's OK, my friends have the receipt."

Food Truck Nation

2011-01-12T19:42:00.001+02:00

An interesting article on the spread of 'fancy' food trucks
Why now: "well suited for a financial downturn"
The only problem: “We go up against the stigma. We’re trying to prove we’re on a different level than a lunch truck,” he says.
The solution- branding: "The new breed of lunch truck is aggressively gourmet, tech-savvy and politically correct"
The effect: "The new trucks are rolling in as many restaurants report steep declines in their lunchtime traffic. Businesses from fast-food chains to upscale steak houses have rolled out cheaper lunch menus to try to persuade consumers to spend money during the work day."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204456604574201934018170554.html

Best 25 in NYC: http://nymag.com/restaurants/cheapeats/2010/67139

Tavern on the Green, the landmark restaurant in Central Park is now a courtyard with... food trucks. The product(in this case the trucks and not the food) has really changed:
http://www.slashfood.com/2010/09/17/tavern-on-the-green-turns-into-high-end-food-court

And an update on LA Food Trucks from Prof. Gal Zauberman

LA also had a very interesting period with food trucks and social media. For a time, the only way to know here the best trucks would be that day was with FC or twitter.

This is the truck that started the trend: http://kogibbq.com/

There are maps that allows you to track them remotely: http://www.foodtrucksmap.com/

http://www.findlafoodtrucks.com/blog

What's happening now:
http://laist.com/2010/09/21/food_truck_lot.php
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/business/15cater.html

Different Kind Of Capitalism (or "patient capitalism")

2011-01-05T20:04:00.000+02:00

"They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I took mine and fell flat on my face. As a young woman, I dreamed of changing the world. In my twenties, I went to africa to try and save the continent, only to learn that Africans neither wanted nor needed saving. Indeed, when I was there, I saw some of the worst that good intentions, traditional charity, and aid can produce...
I concluded that if I could only nudge the world a little bit, maybe that would be enough.
But nudging isn't enough."
-Jacqueline Novogratz

If you are interested in exploring VC to make social changes I highly recommend listing to the NPR podcast named Different Kind Of Capitalism
This is the link to the main page http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2010/different-kind-of-capitalism/index.shtml (look for Download, Listen now or Podcast")
Listen to the interview with the wonderful Jacqueline Novogratz founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture capital fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty http://www.acumenfund.org/about-us/our-team/jacqueline-novogratz.html

“The devastation of the Haiti earthquakes and the lack of infrastructure for responding to the disaster have deepened an ongoing debate over foreign aid, international development, and helping the poorest of the world's poor. Jacqueline Novogratz, whose Acumen Fund is reinventing that landscape with what it calls "patient capitalism," is charting a third way between investment for profit and aid for free.”

Olim Chadashim

2011-01-03T20:01:00.000+02:00

In this skit immigrates arrive on a boat to the port in Israel, the current residents see them coming and sound their opinion (usually using a lot of curses in their native tongue)
As the next wave of immigration arrive, the "new immigrants" are now the current residents, they give the new wave of immigrants the same welcome.
Some things never change...

Lul/Sgablol: "Olim Chadashim" or "New Immigrates"

If Facebook says so...

2011-01-01T00:05:00.000+02:00

Do we need to jump rope?

2010-12-13T19:53:00.001+02:00

At the end of almost every workout, Eric asks Yaniv if we need to jump rope. I look at his with disgust. We just finished an hours of a kickass workout, do we really need to jump rope? Luckily Yaniv is Israeli so we explained to Eric that his question is a Kitbag Question. Now go explain that to a non-Israeli.

My sister Tali came to the help when she found this article
Forward.com, The Kitbag Question, By Philologos, June 1, 2007

Reporting on a visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to Sderot, the town near Gaza repeatedly hit by Qassam rockets, the Hebrew newspaper Ha’aretz had this to say about her meeting there with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana:

“In the course of a press conference…. Solana said that he understood the local residents’ pain and that ‘the European Union wishes to advance the peace process, which is the only solution and cannot be attained through violence.’ To a question from Ha’aretz about what he thought of the Israeli army’s [retaliatory] measures in Gaza, Solana said he thought that, so far, they were reasonable. Livni then said to the reporters with a smile [in Hebrew]: ‘And bring your kitbags.’”

Although most Israelis would have understood Livni’s seemingly odd comment unaided, Ha’aretz came to the assistance of those who might not have by adding the parenthetical explanation, “The [foreign minister’s] meaning was that the question was unnecessary.” Yet this, in turn, raises two more questions: Why did Livni think the question was unnecessary, and why did telling the reporters to bring their kitbags convey this?

Question one is political rather than linguistic: Presumably, the foreign minister thought that Israeli reporters should understand that this was not the time or place to embarrass the publicly peace-loving Solana with queries about Israeli military actions to which he had already privately acquiesced. Question two brings us to the Israeli slang expression “she’elat kitbeg,” a “kitbag question” — that is, the kind of question that only an idiot would ask.

Kitbags are something that most people see only on the TV news, when soldiers of one country or another are shown decamping for some military theater with their gear slung over their shoulders in what looks like a large canvas duffel bag. In it is whatever a soldier has received as army issue, or carries with him, that he is not wearing at the moment: an extra uniform, his helmet, his pouch, blankets, his personal clothing and possessions, etc. Originally called simply a “kit,” the kitbag was defined in 1785 by Francis Grose in “A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue” as “the whole of a soldier’s necessaries, the contents of his knapsack,” and it entered Hebrew as kitbeg via Palestinian Jewish soldiers serving in the British armed forces during World War II.

And what is a “kitbag question”? There are, in Israeli folklore, two opposed stories of how this term had its origin. In one of them, a squad of soldiers, being punished for some infraction of discipline, was told by its sergeant to take all its gear and run 100 times with it around the parade grounds. At which point, one squad member, obviously not the brightest, raised his hand and asked, “Our kitbags too, sir?” Since a kitbag with all its contents is very heavy, and no sergeant would ordinarily think of including it in such a command unless inspired by a very dumb soldier, one can imagine the groans that went up from the rest of the squad when this question was asked.

This is obviously not, however, the version of the story that Livni had in mind, because in that case she would have told the reporters, “And don’t bring your kitbags.” She was thinking, rather, of version two, in which the same squad is told that it is being transferred to another military base and should get all its gear together and be prepared to move out. “Our kitbags too, sir?” the same soldier asks. Since in this case, leaving one’s kitbag behind would mean permanently abandoning everything in it, the groan that went up from the rest of the squad was just as loud as it was the first time.

In Yiddish, a kitbag question is known as a klots-kashe, or “klutz question,” our English “klutz” coming from Yiddish klots, a block of wood. Jewish humor is full of klots-kashes. A Jew, for instance, is told by his friend of a marvelous new invention called an airplane. “One day, everyone will have one,” the friend says. “You’ll be able to get on your airplane here in Minsk and be in Moscow in an hour.” “But what will I do in Moscow when I don’t know anyone there?” the first Jew asks. A klots-kashe!

In proper Hebrew, on the other hand, a she’elat kitbeg is called a she’elat tam, which is a question asked by a tam or “simpleton.” This comes from the passage in the Passover Haggadah about the four sons — the wise son, the wicked son, the son who doesn’t know enough to ask and the simpleton who looks at the gala Seder table, with all its guests, and says, “What’s all this for?” The longer answer to this question is in the Haggadah. The shorter one is, “For this we spent $20,000 a year to send you to Hebrew day school?”

I can't beleive we have to do this

2009-10-12T20:49:00.005+02:00

I am sorry more people didn't fell it was their obligation and not just 'right' to make it to this March, especially people who live in places they could have made a one day trip for low or no cost.
Younger generations tend to forget the fight older generations fought for us, so we can read an openly gay blog for example. Even worst, we who live in big cities, forget about our gay brothers and sisters in smaller towns, the teenagers, the other minorities, that still suffer from discrimination and bashing. Not to mention our community in places like Iran where being gay is simply dangerous.
The day of course was glorious, the weather was amazing and there were tons of people from all over the country marching pass the White-House and up to Capital Hill. The first speakers were young activities, ages 18-22 and they were the best speakers of the rally, they made all of us emotional and motivated.
But the simple fact is that this is a sad story, the fact that we have to act and protest to get a right that is naturally ours is just wrong. There were tones of really good signs I saw, but I think this one really drives the point home.

Photo by Marc Leonard for LOGO

המניין הזה הוא מצעד הגאווה שלנו

2009-09-24T04:52:00.002+03:00

Originally posted at http://havruta.org.il/archives/3769

קראתי בהתלהבות רבה על המניין הגאה ביום הכיפורים הממשמש ובא. בהתלהבות רבה כל כך שחיפשתי כל רסיס מידע על התפילה המתוכננת, כל תגובה או פרסום, אם בעמודי החדשות, הפורמים או הבלוגים. ההתרגשות שאחזה בי כמעט יצאה מכלל שליטה שהייתי חייב לשים את מחשבותיי על המקלדת לפני שלבי יתפקע.

אני מבקש להביא נקודת מבט נוספת שנדמה לי שעדיין לא הובאה אל הכתב, אם כי אני משוכנע שרבים הגו בה.

לאחר שנים שבהם כף רגלי לא דרכה בבית הכנסת, לא בכוונה ולא בטעות, ביום כיפור לפני חמש שנים לבשתי את חולצת השבת היחידה שנשארה לי וצעדתי אל תפילת כל נדרי של קהילת "בית שמחת תורה", הקהילה הגאה של ניו יורק. ולא שמאז הפכתי להיות אחד מל"ו צדיקים, אבל מאז לא עזבתי את הדת שוב.
לכן חשוב לי לחלוק את החשיבות של קהילה גאה, מניין גאה, ובמיוחד תפילת יום כיפורים גאה.

אקדים ואשיג על גישתי: גישתי ואני אינם אורתודוקסים, ולכן לא מן הנמנע, ואפילו מן הראוי, שלא נתאים לכולם.
אוסיף שקהילת "בית שמחת תורה" היא עוד פחות אורתודוקסית ממני, הרבניות הן נשים, התפילה מונהגת על ידי חזן ומקהלה, ואלו רק הדברים על פני השטח. אך דווקא ומשום כך אני טוען שהמניין הגאה ביום כיפור הוא חשוב מעין כמוהו.

לי לא די שבעזרת עבודת הקודש שרבים מבני הקהילה שלנו עושים בבתי הכנסת בעיר, בשכונה ובישיבה, בשקט-בשקט (או לפעמים ברעש גדול) חברינו לספסל בית המדרש, השכנים ממול ואפילו לפעמים הרבנים משנים את דעתם על הנושא ההומוסקסואלי. אני רוצה יותר מכך.

אני רוצה שנאמר לחברינו ולשונאינו שאנו לא רק נשב במקום המיועד לנו בתרשים הימים הנוראים של סדר הישיבה, אלא אנו נהיה הראשונים. אנחנו נוביל. אנחנו נהיה בעלי תפילה, נחזן, נעלה לתורה, נתקע בשופר, נזמין את העם כולו להתפלל עמנו.
כדי שידעו שאנו לא רק יהודים, אנו יהודים גאים. המניין הזה הוא מצעד הגאווה שלנו, כי הרי מה היא הדרך שבה היהודי מביע את עצמו אם לא על-ידי קיום מצוות ותפילה?! ומדוע שלא נבטא את היהדות שלנו בצורה הגאה ביותר שיש – בתפילה גאה. זוהי לא התרסה, זוהי הבעת עמדה.

יום כיפור מצליח למשוך אל בתי הכנסת יהודים רבים שלא מגיעים אליו בשאר ימות השנה. היום האחד הזה בשנה נשאר אחד מהמסורות היחידות שכמעט העם כולו משתתף בו. טוב שיהיה מניין גאה ליברלי בארץ ישראל, אך חשוב ואפילו הכרחי שיהיה זה מניין גאה אורתודוקסי. יהודי הנכר היו הראשונים לייסד קהילות להומואים ולסביות, אבל הבשורה על קהילה אורתודוקסית גאה חייבת לצאת מארץ ישראל.
ועדיפה שעה אחת קודם.

כמה מהכותבים בחרו להתמקד בשורה החשובה מכל נדרי "אנו מתירין להתפלל עם העבריינים".
ואני ביום הכיפורים הזה רוצה לעלות שתי שורות מעלה ולקרוא בקול גדול "על דעת המקום, ועל דעת הקהל", ולדעת שדעת הקהל נוחה ממני.
שאיש לא נע באי-נוחות בכיסאו מכיוון שהושיבו אותו ליד הפייגלֶה של הפוגלמנים.

אני רוצה להתפלל "בישיבה של מעלה ובישיבה של מטה", ולא לחשוש שאם אעזוב לרגע את הכיסא שלי לא יהיה לי איפה לשבת כשאשוב.

יום יבוא ועשרה יהודים יתאספו למניין ובאמת לא תהיה ביניהם מחלקות, אבל עד אז, לפחות פעם בשנה, ביום שבו הקשר שבין תפילת יחיד לתפילת רבים הוא כל כך מהותי ורגיש, אני רוצה להיות חלק מהקהל.

בעוד כמה ימים אתם תעשו היסטוריה. המניין הגאה הראשון של יום כיפור יתחיל במילים "אור זרוע לצדיק ולישרי לב שמחה".
כמה שעות לאחר מכן אני אצעד אל תפילתי שבו נוכחים מדי שנה בשנה אלפי (רבבות!) מתפללים, ולבי יצהל משמחה ומגעגוע לארץ ישראל. כיממה לאחר מכן אני אחתום את תפילתי במילים "בשנה הבאה בירושלים הבנויה", והפעם אני אדע שליהודים כמוני יש מקום 50 דקות מירושלים.

גמר חתימה טובה

Again Rosh Hashanah catches me unprepared

2009-09-18T04:42:00.001+03:00

שוב ראש השנה תופס אותי בהפתעה
מורי ורבותי לחשו לי: התכונן
ניגוני הסליחות של כל העדות הדהדו כמו בת-קול רחוקה
אך הלב סירב לניגון הישן

וראש השנה ממאן לחכות רק עוד רגע
כמו מדריך צניחה הוא דוחף אותך מהמטוס הקל
אחת, שתים, שלוש... והתפילה החלה

הלב לא מוכן
עוד לא התרתי נדריי
עוד לא הכנתי תפילותיי

והלב השובב כילד המסרב לעלות הביתה
ואימא בתפקיד הרבנית מתחננת אליו שיקשיב
אבא בתפקיד הבורא מרעים את קולו כשופר
והלב מתכווץ מפחד

הלב לא מוכן
עוד לא התקנתי מילותיי
עוד לא בררתי תחינותיי

והשנה החדשה מסרבת להמתין
הבורא לא ימתין עוד להמלכתו
תחל שנה ובירכותיה
איתך או בלעדיך
כי הלב תמיד מוכן

הלב תמיד מוכן
נדריי יותרו
תפילותיי נכתבו למעני

הלב מוכן
מילותיי יבואו מעצמם
תחינותיי ימצאו דרכם

Again Rosh Hashanah catches me unprepared
My teachers and Rabbis whispered: prepare
The Selichot melodies played in my ears
But the heart refused to unclench

But the New Year refuses to wait just another moment
Like the sky-diving instructor that pushes you off the light plane
One, two, three… and the prayer has begun

The heart is not ready
I have not withdrawn my vows
I have not prepared my prayers

And the naughty heart like a kid refuses to come home
And the mother like the Rabbis is begging it to listen
Dad in the role of the creator is loud as the Shofar
And the heart shivers with fear

The heart is not ready
I have not set my words
I have not selected my pleas

But the New Year refused to wait
The creator will not prolong his crowning
Lets the year’s blessings begin
With or without you
Because the heart is always ready

The heart is always ready
My vows are dismissed
My prayers were written for me

The heart is ready
The words will come along
My pleas will make their ways

The Embrace- 2008 Edition

2008-07-02T19:00:00.001+03:00

Amma will be visiting NYC and North America again this summer, I am going with friends to the Devi Bhava on Thursday July 10th at 7 PM. This is a really fun event with music, a wonderful dinner and of course, a hug from Amma- come with us! For more information go to our Facebook Event or if you cant make it then go another day, you will never regret this....

With great gratitude to Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Amma, the Mother…

Drive your senses to Samadhi

2008-06-17T01:47:00.002+03:00

During a class with Kaustubha das the example of the horse and chariot as a metaphor of the body and soul was given.
“Five sense organs are the horses and mind is the rein. All the objects of senses, various enjoyments are the different path through which the horses work. If you have good control over the horses by the rein, that means you have got good control over the senses, then you can drive fast in the shortest possible path and can reach your destination quickly, without any accident. If your horses are beyond control then there will be accident, injury, delay and suffering.” Kriya Joga

Further more, the mind is the charioteer and the chariot- our body; in it sits our soul. To make sure our soul is in the right direction, we have to align all the different parts of this experience. Kaustubha das said that you start with the senses because: ‘The senses are the easiest to control.’ THE EASIEST??? THE EASIEST??? Just give me pets and good food, just make my senses happy and I am yours! THE EASIEST???

But there is an answer, or at least a place to start from. When our body, senses or mind are idle, they look for other things to do… or are the saying goes: “Idle Hands Are The Devil's Tools.” This is why we have yoga, if you keep your body and senses active in a focused way through the practice of asana, and the mind through meditation, you will learn how to control and focus them.

Pratyahara, the fifth of the Eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga is a challenging one, again, the restriction, or withdrawal of the senses is such a difficult concept to grasp. When we learned about Pratyahara in my teachers training, one of my fellow students turned to me, and said very incessantly (and slightly frightened) but why? Why not enjoy our senses? My simple answer is that you need to make decisions based on a true understanding of the nature of the situation you face, when you are influenced so strongly by addictive senses of pleasure (or pain) it is hard to make that decision. Pleasure and pain (as well as other senses) should be taken part of consideration, but not hijack the decision making process.

I will end with a wonderful description of Pratyahara by SwamiJ: “The senses are said to follow the mind in the same way the hive of bees follows the queen bee. Wherever she goes, they will follow. Similarly, if the mind truly goes inward, the senses will come racing behind.”

Who is Not So Shai?

2008-06-12T01:57:00.001+03:00

So I know nothing of fashion, glamour, or trend. That is what you have friends for. Shai, who is anything but shy, writes about the latest trends in everything that is sexy and New York. Don’t be shy, have a look.

I am releasing my brother

2008-06-11T18:39:00.006+03:00

On Yom Kippur, two years ago, I was dealing with a difficult situation. The relationships I had with two of my most beloved men were very tense. Man One was very mad at me for something that, swear to God, I had no choice in doing. It was natural and out of my control. Man Two I was mad at, for decisions he made long before he even met me or knew of my existence. So as I stood there, asking God for forgiveness over and over again, I asked myself, how can I ask Man One to forgive me, when I don’t think I did him wrong; how can I forgive Man Two, while he didn’t do me any wrong. Is forgiving always only for an objective act of sin? Or is it in the eyes of the beholder?

The Mother is in town this week, and with it being 100 degrees outside the best activity we could think of was watching movies. This is what she wanted to watch this weekend:
Sex And The City
Mongol
A very eclectic choice of movies I must say.

Spoiler warning ahead; but nothing that isn’t obvious.

In SATC both Carrie and Miranda have to deal with forgiving their men, one for leaving her at the altar, the other for cheating on them with another woman. Not only do they both come to realize that they had as much to do with their man’s poor choices as they did, they also repeat the same mistakes.

In one subtle but genius scene in the movie, Miranda and Carrie are having dinner together on Valentine’s Day. Miranda comes clean about telling Big something she should have not. Carrie attacks her and Miranda uses the same defiance Steve used on her, WORD TO WORD. It is just a matter of time until we all commit the same sins?

In Mongol, Jamukha saves the life of Genghis Khan after he falls in a crack in the ice as a young boy. They made a vow to be brothers in blood. Though at early stages of the movie Jamukha assists Genghis Khan in his fights, he will not let him be the strong man he wants to be, the Khan, and eventually joins Genghis Khan’s enemy in a war on him. When Jamukha is captured by Genghis Khan, he releases him to freedom.
The surprised Jamukha says to Genghis Khan: “You are releasing your enemy” and as he rides away Genghis Khan whispers: “I am releasing my brother.” Forgiving Jamukha for his betrayal, understanding that he might have done the same thing.

Sharon Salzberg said: “The intention of forgiveness meditation is not to force anything, or to pretend to anything, or to forget about ourselves in utter deference to the needs of others. In fact, it is out of the greatest compassion for ourselves that we create the conditions for an unobstructed love, which can dissolve separation and relieve us of the twin burdens of lacerating guilt and perpetually unresolved outrage.” (Mrs. Salzberg will be teaching a workshop at The Shala on “tools for awakening courage, faith and compassion” on June 22nd)

"If we haven’t forgiven, we keep creating an identity around our pain, and that is what is reborn. That is what suffers” (Ajahn Pasanno, Preparing for Death)
Keeping a grudge, will create more “heat” around a painful area. If you keep on thinking everyday, “Ahhh! how much I hate him for leaving me!” you will remind yourself over and over again how offended you were when you were abandoned.

Forgive, for any reason you choose, because you were part of the problem, because you are brothers in blood, because you love, or for no reason at all, forgive, and good things will come.

I am also reposting אשם

Blame Synergia Words and Lyrics: Ron Hofmann and Roy Geffen

Only now I discover I am the one to blame,
I think of it and just can not take a breath.
I want to touch you; and you are so far off,
I need to know you are not in pain.

It seems you did it all as you planed,
You wanted more from me, I am so ashamed.
It’s not that I didn’t try; I wanted us to be one
I am on a fly and you just halt me, and then you tell me, I was wrong again.

Only now I discover I am the one to blame,
I think of it and just can not take a breath.
I want to touch you; and you are so far off,
I need to know you are not in pain.

I hoped that maybe you would see the good in me
But you just don’t want what I have to bring.
I thought I was the one that did, but I was the one with a hope,
That you will always be here, stay here, and now you are leaving.

Who is the Yogamaiden?

2008-06-08T17:57:00.002+03:00

When I started my Yoga Teachers Training over a year ago I didn't know what would come out of it. A year later I am counting my blessing. But no doubt one of the most magnificent miracles that I was blessed with was meeting Marisol. And now, she is sharing her wisdom at Yogamaiden
Read this:
My Teacher would often ask me, ” What’s the rush? “. Then I thought, what does that mean? I didn’t understand what he was really saying. It took me months to figure out the lesson in the question. Impatience is himsa. My impatience with my asana practice was an act of cruelty toward my Self. I now understand. The mat is a mirror. A reflection of our progression on the path. If we are truly to progress we must sincerely want to look into the mirror. We must make a choice and select the act of ahimsa. We must then choose to be kind and gentle with ourselves. This act on the mat will overflow to our life off the mat, which is where yoga is really practiced.

ॐ

2008-06-06T23:15:00.005+03:00

The focus of the moth is jump backs and jump throughs, the fear of any ashtangi over 90 lbs. You have to lift your body so high almost into a hand stand, then hug the legs in and jump through to seat with straight legs, on your way back, you lift off your seat so high that you can swing like a pangolin, and fly back in the air. There are many merits to this practice, but I think that the real advantage of mastering these jumps is to keep the practice in motion, smooth, as one unit.

We tend to chop our life into segments; for example into separate time periods, like when I say: “I used to get drunk all the time, but I was young and foolish” as if it was not those experiences (and others) which made me who I am today. Or sometimes we chop up our present, “Asaf of work,” the 9 to 9 hard working finance guy, and “Asaf out of work,” the free spirit yogi at all other times. Sometimes we even segment parts of our personality, and forgive me for not sharing here. It seems like it just makes our lives easier to manage when they are segmented, as if one does not have to affect the other.

ॐ, AUM, is the sound of the infinite, the sounds from where the world was created and where we will go, my teacher says: “focus on ॐ!!!” when we start asking questions that are beyond our level of understanding. Just go back to ॐ. Listen to the sound of ॐ, is starts all the way in the back of the throat, almost in the belly, and travels through the mouth to the lips where it seems to end. Many students and teachers neglect the last part of the ॐ, ending it abruptly. When you do that, you are focusing at the past and the present, but not the future. When you chant ॐ, elongate the vibration at the end, these vibrations will carry us into the future.

We have a nice practice when we sing Kirtan at The Shala to sing a rolling ॐ, you just start your next ॐ before the group finished the one before, and it goes on. This is something to do even when you are singing by yourself. Try to make your ॐ be a rolling ॐ to go on into the universe.

If we learn how to have a smooth, unfragmented practice on the mat, if we learn how to carry our ॐ so it has no beginning and no end, we will learn how to live our lives as a unit.

For some practical advice on jump backs and jump throughs you might like this tutorial from Mysore Musings

And this is a good short article on AUM

Go West Part 'א

2007-12-31T10:41:00.000+02:00

I would like to start with apologizing to the guy at seat A2 on flight CO648 on Thursday night. I know you were strong and healthy when you got on the flight and coughing and sneezing by the time we landed in SFO. Sorry.

It was getting to a point that I was fighting with anyone that was willing to talk to me. So I needed a break and, as I am on a low budget, I went on Craig’s List and found a couple that wanted to swap apartments, San Francisco for New York. Go West. Actually this is as west as I have ever gone without crossing the International Date Line.

This was the view I got up to on the first morning (not really)

This is what I got up to on the second morning (really)

It is very hilly! Reminds me of home!

Robb recommended I try out “The Rocket.” A Yoga Sequence based on the Ashtanga Yoga Series thought by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Most of my friends know me as a very liberal and progressive person, but there are some areas of my life where I am still a very “traditional” person. I was taught by my teachers that there are traditional schools of yoga which came from Sri Krishnamacharya who is considered the father of modern yoga as we know it. He thought Sri BKS Iyengar who is the founder of Iyengar Yoga, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois the founder of Ashtanga Yoga and his son T.K.V. Desikachar who teaches a form that sometimes is referred to as “Vini Yoga” but is really is a personalized therapeutic vinyasa yoga. What I am saying here is wrong, flawed and simplified but a good starting point. Vinyasa Yoga is an even more modern yoga practice that combines and draws from all the traditional ones. Anything that is not traditional yoga is Vinyasa. When you teach Vinyasa you can teach almost whatever you want, when you teach traditional yoga, you must stick to the original teachings. Now, don't get me wrong, I have been practicing Ashtanga for a while and I think that it is just not suited for a 200 pound Western man like me, but that is the teaching, and I believe that there is great value to sticking to the tradition. So when someone as smart and creative as can be “coins” a new style of yoga, I'd rather he just calls it what it is, Vinyasa. In any case, The Rocket was a REALLY fun Vinyasa class and It’s Yoga is a beautiful studio.

It was Friday, and my next stop was at the Shabbat services at Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, a very cool synagogue in the Mission district of San Francisco. Though there is a well-known church that became a dance club in New York, I think that a Christian funeral home that became a Jewish synagogue would win the extreme make-over competition.

I was not exactly sure why I decided to go to Shabbat service this week of all weeks; I thought maybe it was being away from home or not working on Friday which just gave me the chance to get to service on time, but then the Rabbi reminded me. He started his drash with something that sounded like this: “This is a weird time of the year for our people, a lot of Holidays around this time that are not ours.” I have become so submerged in the American Culture that I forgot that just seven years ago Christmas and the (Christian) New Year were things I only saw in movies and on television, and now I shop for gifts wrapped in green and red and make plans for the drop of the ball as if it was second nature to me. “TRADITION!” Chaim Topol was singing in my head for the second time that day.
But Congregation Sha'ar Zahav is not traditional for me. It is unfortunate that the synagogue that accepts me as I am is also the synagogue where I feel out of place. It is the unknown tunes to the prayers, and the additions to the Siddur, but above all it is this phenomenon:

וְהָיוּ הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם--עַל-לְבָבֶךָ.
וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיך (ולבנותיך), וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם, בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ, וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ.

…and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy sons (and daughters) etc.

Every place that has the masculine noun, the “new prayer book” adds the feminine. It drives me berserk! I too understand the effect of the spoken word on our thoughts especially based on the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, but the Torah was given in Hebrew, which has the masculine and feminine, and yes, not fair, but it was mostly written in the masculine, and for the sake of tradition I ask that you keep it that way. The Shema Yisrael is considered the most important prayer in the Jewish tradition (according to Wikipedia! which is always right) it is ancient, traditional and should be unchanged.

Some things that are traditional in one part of the world but very new to us is feeding babies with chop sticks, a task that I got to do this week and found (especially because זאב is just so cute) to be one of the most enjoyable parts of my short trip so far. So I guess that adopting a tradition is fine by my book.

This is an optical illusion! I don't really have an arrow stuck in my head!

Society, you're a crazy breed

2007-10-19T18:06:00.000+02:00

I have conflicted feeling and thoughts about this movie, which I love. On one hand, I relate the feelings of a greedy society, and the need to find your space to brake free. On the other, I believe in life, in the preservation of life, and in the creation and maintenance of a society.
So I will just post the lyrics to this highly addictive song, performed by Eddie Vedder.

Society, Eddie VedderFrom the Soundtrack of “Into the Wild “

It's a mystery to me
we have a greed
with which we have agreed

You think you have to want
more than you need
until you have it all you won't be free

society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me

When you want more than you have
you think you need
and when you think more than you want
your thoughts begin to bleed

I think I need to find a bigger place
'cos when you have more than you think
you need more space

society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me
society, crazy and deep
I hope you're not lonely without me

there's those thinking more or less less is more
but if less is more how you're keeping score?
Means for every point you make
your level drops
kinda like its starting from the top
you can't do that...

society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me
society, crazy and deep
I hope you're not lonely without me

society, have mercy on me
I hope you're not angry if I disagree
society, crazy and deep
I hope you're not lonely without me

Forgive me...

2007-09-28T22:16:00.000+02:00

As the summer comes to its end, I wait impatiently for the end of September. How is it that the one holiday in the Jewish calendar that I used to hate as a child, is now my most favorite?
And as Yom Kippur comes closer, feelings of uncertainty arise, like the once before a scary ride at Six Flags: you know you will be OK, and yet, you are apprehensive about how it will be. I am not sure what it is. Do I miss my Blackberry? It is the fast? Is it being at synagogue for so many hours without a change of scenery?

When the sun is high in the sky, and the sugar levels in my blood are low, my heart opens. At that point, I sometimes half-hallucinate that my family is next to me. It is always first my father; he wraps his Talit around my shoulders and holds me strong, as he always does when we are in Synagogue. And in ברכת כוהנים he places his Talit over our heads and we make a little tent. Then my mother joins, and my siblings. Some have never been to a synagogue before and now they are here with me. Last are the dead once, as if wrapping their arms around us. Maybe I should drink more water before the fast next year.

A few months ago I practiced Yoga Nidra with a class. Yoga Nidra means yogic sleep, a state of conscious deep sleep for extreme relaxation and subtler spiritual exploration. When we arose from the “sleep” we were all shaken up. I felt scared and alone; my friend Cori was crying. As you lie on the floor, withdrawing sense after sense, you stop seeing the black background that you see even when your eyes are closed and stop hearing the quiet hum that you hear even when you plug in earplugs. You actually don’t feel. It is an experience close to death. It reminds us that we are human, and that we, like everything else on earth, are temporary. That can be scary. On Yom Kippur we are reminded of our mortality. Depriving our bodies from water and food, and the senses that we indulge on, the scripts tell us of the ways that we can find our death this year.

ונתנה תקף קדושת היום כי הוא נורא ואיום, ובו תנשא מלכותך ויכון בחסד כסאך, ותשב עליו באמת. אמת כי אתה הוא דיין ומוכיח ויודע ועד, וכותב וחותם וסופר ומונה. ותזכר כל הנשכחות, ותפתח ספר הזכרונות, ומאליו יקרא וחותם יד כל אדם בו.

ובשופר גדל יתקע וקול דממה דקה ישמע, ומלאכים יחפזון וחיל ורעדה יאחזון, ויאמרו הנה יום-הדין. לפקוד על צבא מרום בדין, כי לא יזכו בעיניך בדין. וכל באי עולם יעברון לפניך כבני מרון. כבקרת רועה עדרו מעביר צאנו תחת שבטו, כן תעביר ותספור ותמנה ותפקוד נפש כל חי. ותחתך קצבה לכל בריה ותכתב את גזר דינם.

בראש השנה יכתבון וביום צום כיפור יחתמון, כמה יעבורון וכמה יבראון. מי יחיה ומי ימות, מי בקיצו ומי לא בקיצו. מי במים ומי באש, מי בחרב ומי בחיה, מי ברעב ומי בצמא, מי ברעש ומי במגפה, מי בחניקה ומי בסקילה, מי ינוח ומי ינוע, מי ישקט ומי יטרף, מי ישלו ומי יתיסר, מי יעשיר ומי יעני, מי ישפל ומי ירום.

ותשובה ותפלה וצדקה - מעבירין את רוע הגזרה

כי כשמך כן תהלתך, קשה לכעוס ונוח לרצות. כי לא תחפץ במות המת, כי אם בשובו מדרכו וחיה, ועד יום מותו תחכה לו, אם ישוב מיד תקבלו. אמת כי אתה הוא יוצרם ואתה יודע יצרם, כי הם בשר ודם. אדם יסודו מעפר וסופו לעפר, בנפשו יביא לחמו. משול כחרס הנשבר, כחציר יבש וכציץ נובל, כצל עובר וכענן כלה, וכרוח נושבת וכאבק פורח, וכחלום יעוף.

ואתה הוא מלך אל חי וקיים

אין קצבה לשנותיך ואין קץ לאורך ימיך, ואין שעור למרכבות כבודך, ואין לפרש עילום שמך. שמך נאה לך, ואתה נאה לשמך, ושמנו קראת בשמך. עשה למען שמך, וקדש את שמך על מקדישי שמך. בעבור כבוד שמך הנערץ והנקדש, כסוד שיח שרפי קדש המקדישים שמך בקדש, דרי מעלה עם דרי מטה קוראים ומשלשים בשִלוּש קדשה בקֹדֶש".

"The great shofar is sounded... A still small voice is heard...Even the angels are frightened... the Day of Judgment is here...
Who shall live? And who shall die?Who shall find rest? And who shall be restless?Who shall be raised up? And who shall be humbled?Who shall be rich? And who shall be poor?
“On Rosh HaShana they are written, And on Tsom Yom Kippur they are sealed.
How many shall pass, and how many created:
Who shall live and who shall die;
Who in their time and who not in their time;
Who by water And who by fire;
Who by the sword And who by a beast;
Who by hunger And who by thirst;
Who by disaster And who by sickness;
Who by strangling And who by stoning;
Who will rest And who will wander;
Who will be go peacefully And who will go violently;
Who will be calm And who will be harried;
Who will be poor And who will be rich;
Who will be degraded And who will be exalted.

By repentance, prayer and charity Remove the evil of the decree.

As for Man, he comes from dustAnd to dust he shall return..."

Man is like... Grass that withers... A flower that fades... A shadow that passes..."

As the day ends, we sing a hymn from Psalm 27, 4:

אַחַת, שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵאֵת-יְהוָה-- אוֹתָהּ אֲבַקֵּשׁ:
שִׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית-יְהוָה, כָּל-יְמֵי חַיַּי;
לַחֲזוֹת בְּנֹעַם-יְהוָה, וּלְבַקֵּר בְּהֵיכָלוֹ.

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,to behold the graciousness of the Lord, and to visit early in His temple.

Singing this hymn always gets me very emotional. What is it about dwelling in the Lord’s house? What is his graciousness?

Last year I was thinking hard about forgiveness. It is actually easier to forgive someone that has obviously done you wrong. But what about those people you are mad or angry at, but for reasons that are beyond their control. You know they have done no wrong to you. What about those people that are mad at you, but you know in your heart you have done no wrong to them.

A year has past, and as I was hearing the cantor singing “may I dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,” I remembered that last year I found no good answers to my concerns of forgiveness. I looked at those painful relationships again and smiled. Over the last year, I kept my cry to the Lord to dwell in his house close to my heart, and there I beheld his grace: awareness, compassion, patience and love. One can’t always solve heartbreaking situations. Sometimes, all you can do is strive to be close to the Lord, so you can learn from him. Actively practice awareness, compassion, patience and love towards the people you can not solve difficulties with, and you might find out that with time, you will be dwelling in the house of the Lord together, again.

With Love and Appreciation to My Family

2007-08-24T20:16:00.000+03:00

As the mother of a gay son, I've seen firsthand how cruel and misguided people can be.

Many letters have been sent to the Valley News concerning the homosexual menace in Vermont. I am the mother of a gay son and I've taken enough from you good people.

I'm tired of your foolish rhetoric about the "homosexual agenda" and your allegations that accepting homosexuality is the same thing as advocating sex with children. You are cruel and ignorant. You have been robbing me of the joys of motherhood ever since my children were tiny. My firstborn son started suffering at the hands of the moral little thugs from your moral, upright families from the time he was in the first grade. He was physically and verbally abused from first grade straight through high school because he was perceived to be gay. He never professed to be gay or had any association with anything gay, but he had the misfortune not to walk or have gestures like the other
boys. He was called "fag" incessantly, starting when he was 6.

In high school, while your children were doing what kids that age should be doing, mine labored over a suicide note, drafting and redrafting it to be sure his family knew how much he loved them. My sobbing 17-year-old tore the heart out of me as he choked out that he just couldn't bear to continue living any longer, that he didn't want to be gay and that he couldn't face a life without dignity.

You have the audacity to talk about protecting families and children from the homosexual menace, while you yourselves tear apart families and drive children to despair. I don't know why my son is gay, but I do know that God didn't put him, and millions like him, on this Earth to give you someone to abuse. God gave you brains so that you could think, and it's about time you started doing that.

At the core of all your misguided beliefs is the belief that this could never happen to you, that there is some kind of subculture out there that people have chosen to join. The fact is that if it can happen to my family, it can happen to yours, and you won't get to choose. Whether it is genetic or whether something occurs during a critical time of fetal development, I don't know. I can only tell you with an absolute certainty
that it is inborn.

If you want to tout your own morality, you'd best come up with something more substantive than your heterosexuality. You did nothing to earn it; it was given to you. If you disagree, I would be interested in hearing your story, because my own heterosexuality was a blessing I received with no effort whatsoever on my part. It is so woven into the very soul of me that nothing could ever change it. For those of you who reduce sexual orientation to a simple choice, a character issue, a bad habit or something that can be changed by a 10-step program, I'm puzzled. Are you saying that your own sexual orientation is nothing more than something you have chosen, that you could change it at will? If that's not the case, then why would you suggest that someone else can?

A popular theme in your letters is that Vermont has been infiltrated by outsiders. Both sides of my family have lived in Vermont for generations. I am heart and soul a Vermonter, so I'll thank you to stop saying that you are speaking for "true Vermonters."

You invoke the memory of the brave people who have fought on the battlefield for this great country, saying that they didn't give their lives so that the "homosexual agenda" could tear down the principles they died defending. My 83-year-old father fought in some of the most horrific battles of World War II, was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart.

He shakes his head in sadness at the life his grandson has had to live. He says he fought alongside homosexuals in those battles, that they did their part and bothered no one. One of his best friends in the service was gay, and he never knew it until the end, and when he did find out, it mattered not at all. That wasn't the measure of the man.

You religious folk just can't bear the thought that as my son emerges from the hell that was his childhood he might like to find a lifelong companion and have a measure of happiness. It offends your sensibilities that he should request the right to visit that companion in the hospital, to make medical decisions for him or to benefit from tax laws governing inheritance. How dare he? you say. These outrageous requests would threaten the very existence of your family, would undermine the sanctity of marriage.

You use religion to abdicate your responsibility to be thinking human beings. There are vast numbers of religious people who find your attitudes repugnant. God is not for the privileged majority, and God knows my son has committed no sin. The deep-thinking author of a letter to the April 12 Valley News who lectures about homosexual sin and tells us about "those of us who have been blessed with the benefits of a religious upbringing" asks: "What ever happened to the idea of striving . . . to be better human beings than we are?"

Indeed, sir, what ever happened to that?

Sharon Underwood lives in White River Junction, Vt.
This editorial is from Sunday's Concord Monitor.
Sunday, April 30, 2000, By Sharon Underwood
For the Valley News (White River Junction, VT/Hanover, NH)

Miss Subway

2007-08-10T23:09:00.000+03:00

On a week like this in New York, when everyone is cursing the Subway system, it was a nice surprise when my cousin found this photo of my grandmother when SHE WAS Miss Subway.
I really don’t have anything smart or yogi to say about it, it’s just kind of cool.

Here is the Wiki article:
Miss Subways was a title accorded to individual New York City women between 1941 and 1976. The woman who was "Miss Subways" at any one time appeared on posters placed on New York City Subway trains, along with a brief description of her. The program was run by the ad agency "New York Subways Advertising". To be eligible, a woman had to be a New York City resident and herself use the subway. Winners were usually chosen by telephone-based voting, from among a group of contenders whose photos were all placed on the subways; the nominees were chosen by John Robert Powers, a modelling agent.
Around 200 women held the title during the program's run. The first Miss Subways was actress Mona Freeman; the last was Heidi Hafner.
The first African American Miss Subways was in 1947; the first Asian American Miss Subways was in 1949.
Ellen Hart Sturm, owner of the New York diner Ellen's Stardust Diner, was Miss Subways in 1959; her diner currently features photos of many past Miss Subways on the walls.
In 2004, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, in conjunction with the New York Post, brought back the program, though now named "Ms. Subways". A voting contest was held to determine the first winner, Caroline Sanchez-Bernat; Sanchez-Bernat remains "Ms. Subways". Current posters of "Ms. Subways" always appear with subway safety tips instead of biographical notes.
Miss Subways was a title accorded to individual New York City women between 1941 and 1976. The woman who was "Miss Subways" at any one time appeared on posters placed on New York City Subway trains, along with a brief description of her. The program was run by the ad agency "New York Subways Advertising". To be eligible, a woman had to be a New York City resident and herself use the subway. Winners were usually chosen by telephone-based voting, from among a group of contenders whose photos were all placed on the subways; the nominees were chosen by John Robert Powers, a modelling agent.
Around 200 women held the title during the program's run. The first Miss Subways was actress Mona Freeman; the last was Heidi Hafner.
The first African American Miss Subways was in 1947; the first Asian American Miss Subways was in 1949.
Ellen Hart Sturm, owner of the New York diner Ellen's Stardust Diner, was Miss Subways in 1959; her diner currently features photos of many past Miss Subways on the walls.
In 2004, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, in conjunction with the New York Post, brought back the program, though now named "Ms. Subways". A voting contest was held to determine the first winner, Caroline Sanchez-Bernat; Sanchez-Bernat remains "Ms. Subways". Current posters of "Ms. Subways" always appear with subway safety tips instead of biographical notes.

I will always be his little girl

2007-08-01T17:43:00.000+03:00

Guruji

2007-07-25T21:25:00.000+03:00

My Ashtanga teacher is on his way to meet his Guru, and will be away for over a month. So I woke up early this morning and went to practice, to be with my teacher before he leaves. I wasn’t the only one, so the Ashtanga room was packed.

I found a tight space between two other yogis at the front of the room, just in front of the door. This is where students say Namaste to their teacher when they finish their practice.
Today it was a longer “ceremony” as everyone wanted to say another word or two. I know I should be focused on my practice and not listen to the conversation, but it was just overwhelming. His students come to him every day, and the relationship of a teacher/student is developed. It is a relationship with very littlie words exchanged; based on trust and compassion. New students who come to Ashtanga sometimes are pushed away by the stern guidance, and the strong adjustments. But surrendering to your teacher is an integral part of the practice. Not because of the teacher’s ego or power strives; but because if you learn to surrender “on the mat” you will also learn: “Isvara pranidhnad-va” (Yoga Sutra 1:23); Or (achieving Samadhi is also attainable) by devoted self-surrender to the Lord.

On our journey to Samadhi, Patanjali is giving us another very important tool, surrender to the Lord. This is probably one of the hardest one for us as Westerner’s to practice, we are so pride and full of ourselves, it is so hard for us to surrender. I grew up in a Jewish orthodox home and school, I then spent three years in the army. The lessons of following a discipline without the consent questioning is one of the most important lessons I was giving between the ages of 4 and 21. There is nothing wrong with surrender; it does not make you weaker.

Baddhakonasana is where I learned to surrender, while my teacher climbed my hips again and again, I resisted, pushing up and back, struggling with my pain. Only when I surrendered to my teacher, I could breathe into the Asana and surrender to the feet , touching my head to my feet as a symbol.

I was emotional throughout the practice today; a young student placed his hand on my teachers shoulder and said: “Have a great trip Christopher.” I suspect my teacher was shocked by this display of affection, I started crying.

Or (achieving Samadhi is also attainable) by devoted self-surrender to the Lord

2007-07-23T21:27:00.000+03:00

At some point I would like to write more about the path of “Isvara pranidhnad-va” (Yoga Sutra 1:23) or Bhakti Yoga, the surrender to the Lord.

But for now I would like to bring this controversial but pretty story from the Gospel of Luke (courtesy of We, Like Sheep)

As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."
(Luke 10:38-42)

The journey begins…

2007-07-23T18:10:00.001+03:00

With great appreciation and gratitude to my teachers, for setting the direction.
Bowing down to the teachers of the past, present and future, and the biggest teacher, the guru within, Om Bolo Sat Guru, Bhagavan, Qi Jai

An officer and a Gentlewoman

2007-07-18T20:38:00.000+03:00

My sister Noa finished the first part of her officer training! I am so proud of her!

Noa is someone that leaves the house without keys/money/cellphone. Gets stuck in the middle of an Arab village with no gas in the car. And now she is an officer in the IDF.

God, our army is in trouble!

Holding Out for a Hero

2007-07-16T18:03:00.000+03:00

I am reposting but this time with this amazing performance of Ms. Tandi Iman Dupree, courtesy of Pop Muse.

This is a good practice of practical Karma. When someone does something to you that you dislike (like taking your Hummus) your initial reaction might be, “that hummus hog! I am going to steal his hummus AND pita!” or just steal someone else’s Hummus if he is too big to steal from (which might be the case if he eats a lot of Hummus)
When someone does something pleasant to you, like “back נעימי/Naimi,” which is a combination of scratching and petting your back, you might think to yourself: “MORE! MORE! MORE!”
Now practical karma practice would suggest this; if someone does something you dislike, A. don’t do it to someone else, B. do something quite the opposite to your friend.
And if someone does something nice to you, do the same to someone else, now that you know how nice it feels.
Every time I listen to this SO GAY song by Bonnie Tyler (it’s on my GYM playlist) I imagine myself at a club (I have the club mix version) having a crappy night, and just waiting for that hero to change it all! And then I think that if I am holding out for an hero, there is probably someone out there that is holding out for me, so instead of holding out for an hero, I try and be someone else’s hero. And no, just buying someone a drink does not count! So be a hero, tonight!

Look how the Arab world treated me. I sure didn't deserve that.

2007-07-16T17:46:00.000+03:00

I always had this passion about Gazpacho soup, I never knew why until I saw Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios last night.
There were two main concerning facts about this event:
1. My BF said: “You will understand me better after you see this movie”
2. I saw it with a friend that just broke up with his BF, HE chose the movie.

It is one of those movies where you identify with more then one character throughout the movie which makes you feel you need therapy more then just once a week.

There is no doubt that Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown teaches us that to be passionate you have to be at least slightly insane.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the movie:

Candela: Men keep taking advantage of me. I always realize it when it's too late. Look how the Arab world treated me. I sure didn't deserve that.

Paulina Morales: You're weak,

Ivan. Iv·n: Yes, sweetheart.

Paulina Morales: Don't agree with me.

Iv·n: But you're right.

Paulina Morales: Sometimes I like to be wrong.

PolicÌa I: What's going on?

Pepa: Nothing. Just discussing the lady's dress.

Candela: [in tears] It's awful!

Carlos: It's only a dress.

Candela: But it's awful!

And of course:

Pepa: I'm sick of being good.

We can all hug Part II

2007-07-13T17:04:00.000+03:00

These guys are huge on hugs.

And of course, Israel!

We can all hug Part I

2007-07-13T17:01:00.001+03:00

This story is from the Washington Post

A gate-crasher’s change of heart - Gunman bursts into party, tastes cheese and wine, gets hug, then leaves

A grand feast of marinated steaks and jumbo shrimp was winding down, and a group of friends was sitting on the back patio of a Capitol Hill home, sipping red wine. Suddenly, a hooded man slid in through an open gate and put the barrel of a handgun to the head of a 14-year-old guest.
"Give me your money, or I'll start shooting," he demanded, according to D.C. police and witness accounts.
The five other guests, including the girls' parents, froze -- and then one spoke.
"We were just finishing dinner," Cristina "Cha Cha" Rowan, 43, blurted out. "Why don't you have a glass of wine with us?"
The intruder took a sip of their Chateau Malescot St-Exupéry and said, "Damn, that's good wine."
The girl's father, Michael Rabdau, 51, who described the harrowing evening in an interview, told the intruder, described as being in his 20s, to take the whole glass. Rowan offered him the bottle. The would-be robber, his hood now down, took another sip and had a bite of Camembert cheese that was on the table.
'Can I get a hug?'Then he tucked the gun into the pocket of his nylon sweatpants.
"I think I may have come to the wrong house," he said, looking around the patio of the home in the 1300 block of Constitution Avenue NE.
"I'm sorry," he told the group. "Can I get a hug?"
Rowan, who lives in Falls Church and works part time at her children's school, stood up and wrapped her arms around him. Then it was Rabdau's turn. Then his wife's. The other two guests complied.
"That's really good wine," the man said, taking another sip. He had a final request: "Can we have a group hug?"
The five adults surrounded him, arms out.
With that, the man walked out with a crystal wine glass in hand, filled with Chateau Malescot. No one was hurt, and nothing was stolen.
In the alley behind the home, investigators found the intruder's empty crystal wine glass on the ground, unbroken.

Hanuman Meets Ganesh

2007-07-11T16:40:00.000+03:00

Michael is on the road again…

We drove from the Bhubaneswar train station directly to the Hospital. We were planning on spending one day at Puri beach to kind of acclimatize after the 24-hour train trip across India but Govinda told me Sunday was the busiest day at the hospital and we had several visiting doctors there for the day. We arrived after dark and the next morning the patients started to show up early. There were around 60 patients waiting in and around the hospital entrance and due to the visit of a gynecologist, Dr. Tappan, there were many female patients waiting.

There was an operation today at the hospital in Juanga that is worth noting. It was a 40-year-old woman from a village around 15-20 kms. Away! Her mother accompanied her to the hospital. She was suffering from an ovarian tumor. The family was extremely poor and her husband had abandoned the women with two children. The husband was a labor worker and just never came home. She moved back in with her widowed mother in the village of Galadhari. They are landless and get their food by one son who is doing labor work as well. Labor workers gets around 60 rupees a day (1.50 USD) and the rest of the family eat from this. It’s hardly enough to survive. So the mother was hesitant to seek medical attention for the growing tumor for fear of throwing the family into a debt that would ruin all their lives for at least this generation.

The tumor had grown to 4.2 kilos and needed to be removed for her to lead a tolerable life. The operation was a great success and everyone was amazed at the tumor sitting there outside the Operating theatre. But Dr. Tappan said he had seen far, far worse cases in these regions of persons living in poverty leaving them to extremely advanced stages.

After the procedure was over, I entered the office and the discussion of payment between Govinda (the Managing Trustee), Dr. Tappan, and a few other staff. This same procedure would have cost the family around 20,000 rupees (500.00 USD) in any other nursing home or hospital in the nearest cities. But do to the visiting Specialists charge and the rate of medicines we would usually have to charge at least 5,500 rupees (137.00 USD) But due to knowing her condition and after a long heated discussion about villagers having to pay something for the work, we all agreed on charging her 500 rupees (12.50 USD). Most village women, out of pride, wear a sari that was gifted to them at a wedding and tucked away in their mud huts in a plastic bag as a prized possession, only to be worn when they need to enter an official engagement like a government interaction or a hospital visit. This old frail women, dressed in nothing more then a tired thread bare sari, reached for a knot and small lump in the cloth holding all the money they could borrow to visit the hospital. I watched her hands trembling and the anguish on her face as she desperately untied the knot to reveal the waded up bills hidden in her sari. She handed the 500 rupees to the clerk in the office and then sat curled up on the bench in the entrance hall, quietly with a blank stare. I found this very unusual since her daughter was just operated on and Indian villagers can’t bare to be alone or leave others alone, especially at times of crisis. I knew what weighed on her mind was that even the 500 rupees would place an incredible burden on the families future and stability. I went up to my room and took out 300 rupees (7.50 USD) and reached around the corner and tapped her on the knee. She looked up and I handed her the rolled up notes and she gave back both combination of a smile, a look of shock and confusion. I placed my finger over my mouth and gestured for her not to tell anyone. She peered around to see if anyone was looking, then turned back to me and shook her head in agreement with a more confident smile.

I realize why the hospital wanted the patient to pay at least some of the costs. We can’t possibly afford to give everyone free care (presently, we barely raise enough funds for salaries). Also in some cases, villagers need to feel responsible for their care and take their medicines properly and understand what we tell them they need to do to get well. Many times if they pay something they are more apt to do this. But I do feel in the future it would be good to have some funds available for just such cases as this when they arise. As it is, I don’t know how Govinda and the staff deal with and function in such a poverty-stricken region and continue to maintain a stable healthcare for the villagers.

Photos by Hinda W.

2007-07-10T17:14:00.001+03:00

My friend Hinda is showing her photography in a new art exhibit in Tel Aviv, here are some of the photos:

Do your work, then step back

2007-07-07T18:49:00.001+03:00

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security and your heart will never enclench.
Care about other people's approval and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.
--Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching, ch. 9

Patanjali teaches us in the Yoga Sutra The 8 Limb Yoga, or Ashtanga Yoga. I tend to get stuck at the Yama (first limb) or Asana (third limb) and skip नियम Niyama, the second limb, which is translated at “the observances” or “the Do’s.”
The second Niyama after Shaucha: purity or cleanliness is Santosha: contentment or peacefulness. I find this “do” hard to practice. We live in a world where we are thought to want more and more, and honestly I find this quality attractive. And still, how can we progress with out contentment? The Buddha said: “I teach only one thing- there is suffering and there is an end of suffering.” It is as simple as that. But for us to be happy, to remove suffering to come, we must first be happy with what we have. Our lives are wonderful, they are full with glory!
So for this birthday, I take upon myself to practice contentment; I will fill my bowl only to the point that I need, I will sharpen my knife only so it is sharp, I will not chase money or security and I will not depend on people’s approval. I will do my work, every day, practice, practice, practice and I will step back.

Carpe Diem! Seize the day, lads! Make your lives extraordinary!

2007-07-07T17:55:00.000+03:00

A traveler came to the gates of a new city and asked the gatekeeper, “What kind of people live here?” The gatekeeper answered with a question of his own, “What kind of people lived in the city you came from?” The traveler replied, “They were mostly a cantankerous lot, greedy and self-centered.” The gatekeeper answer, “I expect you will find the people here just the same.” Soon after, another traveler met the gatekeeper and asked the same question. Again the gatekeeper asked, “How did you find the residents of the city you visited last?” The traveler answered enthusiastically, “They were warn and hospitable, truly a fine group of people.” The gatekeeper responded, “I expect you to find these folk just the same.”

For many years I was afraid (yes, afraid) of going to the Pines at Fire Island. I expected a nonstop party scene, drugs and alcohol. My friends kept on telling me that “Fire Island is what you make of it.” Last summer and this summer I learned that truth. I have been lucky to spend my days in Fire Island in the company of good friends, honest people, great yogis and remarkable personalities. I get to be close to Mother Earth, eat her offerings made by my company and not some stranger in a restaurant, practice Ashtanga Yoga in the company of great practitioners, discover over and over again how amazing, kind and smart my younger brother Amos is. And also see old loves, or people I might have felt anger to in the past, to them I come with a clean, simple and calm slate.

“Being present does not imply that we erase our past and the impact it has had upon us. Being present invites us to allow the memories and the stories rooted in the past to be just whispers in our minds that we no longer solidify with unwise attention. We free ourselves to turn a whole-hearted attention to this moment.”
--Buddhist Path to Simplicity

“Carpe Diem” Or “Seize the day” is not only “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die,” is it also Live This Day Like Never Before. See each day as an opportunity to re-experience the world we live in, you might find it more beautiful then you have expected.

Photos by the wonderful person

Refuses To Go Like A Sheep Part III

2007-06-29T18:46:00.000+03:00

AT LAST! Mika Brzezinski also refuses to go like sheep!
When his newscaster sees that the lineup for the news is Paris Hilton AGAIN she tries to burn and eventually shreds the story.
Yes, change starts with one person saying: NO MORE.
Even if you know your actions will have no actual affect, the intention will change the course of things, either psychologically, energetically or karmaically.

Refuses To Go Like A Sheep Part II

2007-06-26T18:29:00.000+03:00

We, Like Sheep

Pada Yoga

2007-06-26T17:28:00.000+03:00

My teacher Guta quotes her teacher that says “Yoga is for the Mind.” Jamey who is my teacher when I visit home proves that there is more to yoga then just the mind…

Refuses To Go Like A Sheep

2007-06-18T22:29:00.000+03:00

Thank-god some sheep just take things into their own hands, or should I say their own hooves.

The first limb of the Eight Limb/Ashtanga Yoga that Patanjali gives us in the Yoga Sutra in “Yama,” the Universal Discipline, or Code of Ethics.
The first Yama is Ahimsa, or Non- Harmfulness. Kind of a no brainier.
Many Yogis therefore are vegetarian. I have been vegetarian since the age of 12, but I can relate to the difficulty of forgoing food that you are custom to eating. I have a problem forging food in general as I have made it a custom to eat, period. In any case, even if you find being vegetarian too hard for you, try and eat organic or kosher meat and dairy produce, there is a better chance that the animals you are consuming have been better treated and the bad karma you are in-taking is smaller (this is not what I was meaning to write about, I have become so serious lately!)

This sheep, ran away from the butcher and roamed the streets of the Bronx, good for her!
This sheep did the same; kind of... Two brave sheep!

Good Morning, Jafa

2007-06-18T07:05:00.000+03:00

Since my trip to Israel I have been meaning to write about my younger sister נעה/Noa and her army service. And also how much I love her and how goofy she is. And pretty too! She is often described as fey.
Noa started her service as a program producer in the IDF radio station גל"צ/GLZ. One would expect it to be serious and old fashioned, but mostly because it is driven by young hip 18 year old soldiers it is probably the most poplar radio station in Israel. You can listen to the station and even watch the broadcasting online.
During my last visit home, Noa took me on a tour of the station; it was very “Good Morning, Vietnam.”
Since then, Noa has decided that doing one of the most desired jobs in the army is not good enough; she requested to be transferred to Officer Training. Those ambitious desires are not from my side of the family.
Here are some photos from my parents’ visit to her army base with her boyfriend נדב/Nadav. I am filled with pride as I see them. She has really great taste in men. That is from my side of my family, for sure!

You can call a woman a woman

2007-06-08T17:22:00.000+03:00

Buddha said:
"You can call the book a book, and you can think about the book as a book, because it never could have been a book."
I say:
"You can call a woman a woman, and you can think about the woman as a woman, because it never could have been a woman."
Confusing…

I am that I am that I am that I am I am that I am that I am that I am I am that I am I am that....

2007-06-01T01:10:00.001+03:00

सोऽहं-Soham is a very powerful mantra, the simple English translation is “I am that” Or “I am that I am”
Because it follows the breath, Sooooo... the sound of inhalation, and Hummmm... the sound of exhalation, it is a natural and universal mantra.

Patanjali teaches us in Yoga Sutra II -3. Avidyasmita-raga-dvesabhinivesah klesah, that the second Kleasah/root affliction/cause of pain is Asmita, the identification of the ego with our soul, or “I am-ness.”

It is important (and therefore confusing) to differentiate between these two concepts, “I am that I am” or “I am that” which is an important and a growing concepts of non-clinginess or dispassion from our ego, verses, Asmita: “I am THIS and that is ALL I AM”

Do I attract you?
Do I repulse you with my queasy smile?
Am I too dirty?
Am I too flirty?
Do I like what you like?...

I could be wholesome
I could be loathsome
I guess I'm a little bit shy
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me without making me try?...

Say what you want to satisfy yourself
But you only want what everybody else says you should want…

Gotta be everything more
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me?
Walk out the door!

Grace Kelly, Mika

Vertical Community

2007-05-23T23:30:00.001+03:00

I went to the MoMa today, something I usually refuse to do because of the outrages price, but my step dad treated me. Anyway I saw this:

SITE (Sculpture in the Environment) and James Wines

I think it is amazing, I am considering talking to my boss about developing a project like this in New York. He won’t agree.

Remind Me

2007-05-09T16:40:00.000+03:00

A kid sends his hand to the cookie jar without permission.
1. He gets slapped on his hand
2. He hears a loud NO
Why is it that when getting slapped the kid will remember better never to do it again? It seems as if our bodies remember much better then our minds (not that I am promoting child abuse or anything like that.)

Every time I go back to the practice of Ashtanga Mysore Style I am in awe of how my body remembers what it used to know. The Vinyasa (sequence,) the Asana (poses,) and the feelings of pain and pleasure that flow through your body and mind.

These feelings and emotions will pass, you will be left with the merits of the practice.

Practice Mysore in NYC at The Shala, Yoga Sutra and Ashtanga Yoga New York

Photos from Alan Little’s Weblog

watching through the door

through the bars

backbending

Streetlight people, living just to find emotion...

2007-05-08T19:13:00.001+03:00

People say that New York City is a very lonely place.
I have mixed feelings about that statement. When I moved to NY I was very lonely, I found people very intimidating, strong, out of touch, and it made me feel lonely.

That feeling still comes back once in a while, like when I am at a party talking to someone, and someone else walks by (usually more attractive) and the person I was talking to just walks away. That makes me feel lonely.

At a party I attended this weekend there were a lot of very self confident, young and attractive people, I love that! Later on, there was a whole discussion among my friends about how intimidating “they” were. I don't love that! If you choose to see a group of individuals, which happen to be at the same place at the same time, as a UNIT, that is what you will get back from the universe, they will always see you a part of a group or classification.

Discrimination and being prejudiced are a result of this unattractive tendency. I know that might sound extreme but I really believe that you must maintain a sense of self, and also a sense of other’s self. If one thinks that by saying that someone belongs to a “group of really hot people” he is giving him respect, I disagree. Individuals deserve to be respected for what and who they are. If you don’t know who they are, let them be. You will get the same treatment from the universe when time comes.

Drg-darsana-saktyor ekatmatevasmita- Yoga Sutra II 6
The Yoga Sutra states that one of the Rout Affliction-Pain-Klesha is Asmita, or “I Am’nes” Identifying with your qualities, internal or external as what you ARE. If you look at people that way, how can you teach your own mind not to look at yourself in that way.

Only once you start detaching from that feeling of ego, and practicing “I Am That” or “I Am That I Am” you can feel in good company again. It is hard work, but who wants to be idle.

Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better

2007-05-03T23:36:00.001+03:00

Some-Things You Can Do I Can’t Do At All

2007-05-03T23:30:00.000+03:00

Dont try this at home

Shavasana

2007-04-19T06:49:00.000+03:00

My friends question was quit shocking to me; she wanted to know how to practice detachment from the death of her mother who died when she was 16 years old.
My immediate reaction was “What are you trying to detach from?”
Our teacher told us a story that remained me of this one:

There is a story told of a Zen master who is weeping after the death of his child. His disciple finds him weeping and says ,"But master, you have told us it’s all illusion."
“Yes," replies the master “And the death of one’s child is the most painful illusion of all."

I spoke with my friend after the class has ended. We spoke of ways of practicing detachment from the deep and evolved feeling and concept of death.

One of our teacher’s suggestions for practicing meditation was to start with a gross objects (he suggested a bottle of FIJI Water) and not subtle ones that are more of a concept like Love or Compassion. In the same mater I suggested practicing detachment on less conceptual subjects of death like Lost and Body.

Practice detachment from object that you feel very attached to, practice giving them up, leaving them behind, that is a first step to practice of detachment of loss.

Death of our body is related to the feelings of ownership that we have to our bodies, practicing detachment from that, from the vanity that we feel to our bodies, and our reactions to the immediate sensation of our bodies is the first step to the practice of detachment from our bodies.
The practice of Yoga (I use this here as the physical practice) is a great place to examine that feeling. As you move on and off your matt during your practice you will feel joy and pain. These feelings will pass, and you will be left with the results of your practice. The practice end with Shavasana or Corpse Pose, where we fully detach from our bodies.
Our bodies and mind learn that the sensation pass, and we are left with are benefits (which you should dedicate to the universe, but we can talk about that another time.)

So when you are practicing detachment, or anything else from a very subtle concept, that you find too large in magnitude to deal with, you may find these ideas helpful:
One, Choose a “grosser” subject to work on (instead of loss of life choose loss of objects); Two, choose a related subject for your intention (instead of loss of body in death choose sensation of the body.)

“Your practice will not free you from pain, which is part of human experience, but will free you from the suffering that grows out of grasping and clinging, out of wanting things to be different than they are. Your practice will give you the balance of wisdom and compassion, wisdom to see just how things are and compassion to keep your heart open with things as they are. I pause.”

There are many forms of freedom

2007-04-05T02:03:00.000+03:00

40 years in the desert is really quit a while. The classical theological explanation is that the generation that was liberated from Egypt was not worthy of entering the Holy Land. This year during the Seder we saw the separation of the Red Sea in the Epic movie The Ten Commandments; Moses offers a way out of Egypt and slavery, the Israelite find it hard to believe he will really get them out. In a close reading of the text it is evidence that they didn’t really want to leave Egypt. But why?

In the story of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna places Arjuna’s carriage in the middle of the battle field opposite his Guru and Grandfather, and says to him, those you must kill in battle. Krishna could have positioned Arjuna opposite the villain making the decision to kill easy, but instead he chooses to have Arjuna face what he sees as himself, his grandfather who represents his family and thus his body, and his Guru, his spiritual being. You must kill what you BELIEVE TO BE your body and soul.

Christ’s body has to die for him to come back as the savoir, only when one has no body can he be the son of God. In the weeks before the death of Christ and his Resurrection, we take up Lent, where we forgo some of the pleasures of our daily life.

This week, also known as The Holy Week, I separated from one of my most favorite pleasures/attachments, FOOD. After two days of Juice fasting (it is what is sounds like) I took up eating only Raw food for a week. It also worked out great with Passover.

A while ago I went to hear Bob Thurman at Yoga Sutra NYC. Bob talked at some point about Love in India, he said that the meaning of the word LOVE in India is “wishing for the happiness of others.” Sometimes what we think is love, is really passions, then you don’t only wish for your partner’s happiness, but you are also attached, or maybe even try to posses. If that feeling is mutual, for a while you will both be in great possession of each others attachment, but naturally that will pass, and sometimes not in the same time which can then cause great agony and pain.

Krishna faces Arjuna’s carriage in front of Bhishma and Drona so that Arjuna recognizes that what he sees as himself is just an experience, an attachment. He must detach from that experience to be enlightened. The Israelites were so attached to their experience of slavery, that even the concept of freedom scared them. And that is why that generation was not worthy of entering The Holy Land.

There are many forms of slavery, but there are also many forms of freedom. Take this time of year to celebrate and find freedom. Like Arjuna, you first step must be to face them, recognize your attachments. When you find them, you need to separate from them for a while, like the 40 years in the desert, or just 4 days, you will know for yourself. Make sure you have an intention and when you succeed, which you will, take time to celebrate your success. Of course with no atachment…

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 16-21

The Black Party

2007-03-27T01:47:00.000+02:00

I wrote sometime ago about Patanjali’s definition of Yoga from the Yoga Sutras as “yogash chitta vritti nirodhah” or “yoga is the control (as in soothing, cessation or suspension) of the fluctuation of the mind.” I’m again not going to explore this definition, but instead will explore Patanjali advice on how to achieve a state of yoga: “Abhyasa-vairagyabhyam tan-nirodhah” or “the mind can reach the state of Yoga through practice and detachment.”

Detachment. I suck at that. This Saturday night I got the great opportunity to practice detachment going to the Black Party, a celebration of sex and violence. Not such a great place to practice yoga in general, considering that two of the Yamas (advice for yogic behavior or Ethic Code) are Ahimsa or Non-Violence and Brahmacharya or Non-Abuse of Sexual Energy. But I was up for the challenge.

This is where attachment comes into play, I never went to the Black Party, but last year "someone" went without me, not to get to much into details but I was pissed. Being in a different state of mind this year I recognized that the reason I was eager to go to this sex and violence celebration is to correct the foul experience or memory of last year’s event (which I did not attend, how crazy can one be!)

As the party was getting closer I started imagining and creating expectations of what would happen at the party, how would be and how would people around me react. It stopped being about experiencing the event, it was just what I expected it to be. So I stopped, really. I am not completely sure how, but I just dropped all expectations and went for it.

It is important to recognize these events in our life, they are so dramatic that we cling to them as if they have to happen in some planed way. Stop, recognize why you are attached to the event or experience, if needed write down the reasons. Explore if those selfish and distractive attractions to the event are really that important to you. You don’t have to give up the experience; all I am suggesting is to experience the experience as it is, with no expectations, while being kind to the other participants.

Funny, the Bhagavad Gita is a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Krishna is another name for Black and Arjuna is shiny or full of color. So this Krishna Party (I think I’m pushing it now) might be a symbol of our ability to come colorless, passionless, with no expectation, leave our armor behind, and experience the party-life as it is.

Ambiguously Gay Duo

2007-03-16T19:07:00.000+02:00

Tony says it better.

You make the world better in one way, its becomes better in anyway

2007-03-02T17:21:00.000+02:00

I saw Amazing Grace at the theater last night. The movie tells the story of the life of antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce in 18th Century Great Britain.

We tend to forget how close we are to the days where slavery was part of our immediate universe; we are still paying the price for our father’s sins. This new Sharpton drama is just a reminder of how close those days are. We also deny that in parts of the world slavery is still very real, and we benefit from its fruits. Want it or not, we consume products that are manufactured in sweat-shops and under unfair trade.

But William is fighting not only for the freedom of slaves outside of him; he is also fighting for the liberation of his own soul. Recognizing that he has limited himself William strives to brake free and become free. We are slaves to boundaries that society has put on us, to concepts that were planted in our minds when we were young, but most of all to our self-made limitations. William’s lover Barbara tells him as the sign rises “After the night, there is light.” He finds courage in her words and the love she offers. We have the power to become free and we live in days where we can, not to seize that opportunity is a crime.

Also Romola Garai has a great rack!

Sarah Silverman has another way of putting it all together.

If you are going to look at the bright side, wear sunglasses

2007-03-01T11:20:00.000+02:00

My friend Eric had the blues today. Happens.
Eric was looking for ways to feel better, taking the risk of sounding really too much, I suggested doing something nice to someone else, like me. Nha, not really.
Actually someone you don’t know or someone you don’t really like can benefit from being nice to today more then anyone that expects it.
Another way is to look at the bright side of life.

All Good Things (Come To An End)

2007-02-16T16:20:00.000+02:00

In my first relationship I was still naturally freaked out from this commitment thingy and the thought of “for ever and ever.”
My very smart partner at the time kept on saying to me: “Asaf, all good things come to an end.” Without sadness, or anger, just knowledge of things that come to an end.

Lyrics

Happy President's Day

2007-02-15T20:46:00.001+02:00

I am seriously considering polygamy

2007-02-12T20:28:00.000+02:00

Do to laziness and a slight case of the blues I didn’t really want to move too much this weekend, so I watched the first 6 episodes of “Big Love” on HBO, I am seriously considering polygamy.
Maybe I should run a list of pros and cons, but for now, just following my instincts, it’s a definite yes!

If you still love me

2007-02-07T03:28:00.000+02:00

Boaz Sharabi
Lyrics: Amit Zach
Composers: Boaz Sharabi and Amit Zach

To download this song

If you still love me
I will find
Whatever it is you are missing
If you still love me
I swear
I will be whatever you are not
I will give you as a gift all the secrets of my soul
If you still love me

I will carve stones from the moon
I will give you the treasures of the sea
Anything you ask for
All your wishes
If you are still mine
Still mine

If you still love me
I will makeup words
That only you will understand
If you still desire only me
You will find
In me whatever you look for
And if you feel lost
I am yours in silence
If you still love me

I will carve stones from the moon…

Don’t look for secret meaning
Let the skies open the doors
Only if you still
If you still
Still love me

I will carve stones from the moon…

If you still love me
I will find
I swear

אם את עדיין אוהבת אותי

ביצוע: בועז שרעבי
מילים: עמית צח
לחן: בועז שרעבי ועמית צח

אם את עדיין אוהבת אותי
אני אמצא
את כל מה שחסר לך
אם את עדיין אוהבת אותי
אני נשבע
אהיה כל מה שאין בך
אני אתן במתנה
את כל סודות הנשמה
אם את עדיין אוהבת אותי

אביא לך אבנים מהירח
אתן לך אוצרות מלב הים
מה שתבקשי
מה שרק תרצי
אם את עודך
עודך שלי

אם את עדיין אוהבת אותי
אני אמציא מילים
שאת תביני
אם את עדיין רוצה רק אותי
את תמצאי את מה
שתחפשי בי
ואם תרגישי אבודה
אני שלך גם בשתיקה
אם את עדיין אוהבת אותי

אביא לך אבנים מהירח...

אל תחפשי מילים נסתרות
תני לשמיים לפתוח דלתות
רק אם עדיין
אם את עדיין
עדיין אוהבת אותי

אביא לך אבנים מהירח...

אם את עדיין אוהבת אותי
אני אמצא
אני נשבע

Recurring 15 y/o Hussam Abdu

2007-02-07T02:52:00.001+02:00

This video in Hebrew is a news piece covering the events that happened at the Hawara Checkpoint in the West Bank On March 24th 2004. Fifteen year old Hussam Abdu was apprehended at the checkpoint with live explosives strapped around his waist. Instead of detonating the bomb, Hussam voluntarily gave himself up to the Israeli army When asked why he agreed to commit this crime (for 100 NIS, which is about $20) Hussam answered that the people didn’t like him, and that he was promised to get to Heaven. In the weeks that followed Hussam's arrest, news media from around the globe received conflicting reports. The Palestinian Authority claimed that Hussam had been set up by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), while the IDF maintained that Hussam was the latest example of children recruited for suicide missions by terrorist organizations.

You can see the full video in English here and here and read more about it here.

Push hard so you can lift, but not so hard that you tip over

2007-02-06T17:02:00.000+02:00

"There are an infinite number of yoga asanas." Sri Dharma Mittra

The Asana is a common term used to describe the posters taken during the Hatha Yoga practice, which is the physical aspect of the practice of yoga. The depth of the practice of the asana has sacred elements that are not necessarily visible at tall times. But some Asanas are fun to look at and try to investigate.
This is the story of my investigation of Pincha Mayurasana (Forearm Stand.) At first, as I tried to lift, I was afraid of tipping over: I didn’t kick hard enough to get to a vertical position. After overcoming that fear, I started kicking too hard. Every time I lifted I found myself on my back.
At last, with breath, control and a smile, I was able to lift. By rooting to the ground, I was able to stay up for an extended amount of time. I learned that Pincha Mayurasana is like life: you have to push hard to lift, but not so hard that you tip over.
Once I was lifted in the pose, I also learned that being upside down gives you a different perspective, that rooting is not only from the legs but also from the hands, and that limits that we set in our mind can be overcome by practice, breath, and intention.

As the number of asanas is infinite, you can learn from the physical posture and poses of our bodies and our surroundings at all times and not only during practice. This is a great opportunity to take the practice off the mat and into our lives.

Suddenly I See

2007-02-06T16:25:00.000+02:00

Lyrics

Lithium

2007-02-01T21:39:00.000+02:00

Lyrics

Travelin' thru

2007-02-01T01:04:00.000+02:00

God made me for a reason and nothing is in vain
Redemption comes in many shapes with many kinds of pain
Oh sweet Jesus if you're listening, keep me ever close to you
As I'm stumblin', tumblin', wonderin', as I'm travelin' thru

The brilliant life of Anthony Castro

Blame-אשם

2007-01-26T22:07:00.000+02:00

Blame
Synergia
Words and Lyrics: Ron Hofmann and Roy Geffen

Only now I discover I am the one to blame,
I think of it and just can not take a breath.
I want to touch you; and you are so far off,
I need to know you are not in pain.

It seems you did it all as you planed,
You wanted more from me, I am so ashamed.
It’s not that I didn’t try; I wanted us to be one
I am on a fly and you just halt me, and then you tell me, I was wrong again.

Only now I discover I am the one to blame,
I think of it and just can not take a breath.
I want to touch you; and you are so far off,
I need to know you are not in pain.

I hoped that maybe you would see the good in me
But you just don’t want what I have to bring.
I thought I was the one that did, but I was the one with a hope,
That you will always be here, stay here, and now you are leaving.

אשם
סינרגיה
מילים: רון הופמן ורועי גפן
לחן: רון הופמן ורועי גפן

עכשיו גיליתי שאני אשם
אני חושב על זה ולא נושם
רוצה לגעת בך ואת רחוקה
רוצה לדעת שאת לא בוכה

נראה לי שאת עשית הכל בכוונה,
רצית יותר ממני ואני במבוכה.
זה לא שלא ניסיתי, אני רציתי כן להיות ביחד
אני עף ואת עוצרת ומספרת שזה אני ששוב טעיתי

עכשיו גיליתי שאני אשם
אני חושב על זה ולא נושם
רוצה לגעת בך ואת רחוקה
רוצה לדעת שאת לא בוכה

קיויתי שאולי תראי את הטוב שבי,
אבל את לא רוצה את מה שיש לי להביא.
חשבתי שעשיתי אבל הייתי זה שמקווה
שאת תמיד תהיי כאן, תשארי כאן, ואת פתאום הולכת

He gives you the sad eye

2007-01-26T18:58:00.002+02:00

This is what happens when you try to leave Uno at the apartment

2007-01-26T18:58:00.001+02:00

When the children cry

2007-01-25T22:24:00.001+02:00

Lyrics

Say what it is

2007-01-25T22:21:00.001+02:00

"If you can say what it is then that's not it"
Zen koan

Book a Book

2007-01-25T22:20:00.001+02:00

"You can call the book a book, and you can think about the book as a book, because it never could have been a book."
- Buddha

Making Room מפנה מקום

2007-01-24T23:26:00.000+02:00

Berry Sakharof
Words: Berry Sakharof and Dan Toren
Lyrics: Berry Sakharof

I am making room in my mouth for your kisses
Making room around for your silences
Making room for your stress
Making room in my stomach so I can swallow you
I am making room in my mail box for your letters
Making room in my head for your demons
Making room on my cheek for your slaps

So much room and you at your own
You at your own, your own
So much room you can stay over
And if you are all mine
There will be no room for me

I am making room in my closet for your cloth
Making room in the album for your photos
Making room against the light for your shadow
Making room in the dark for your breath
I am making room on the pillow for your hair
Making room in the corner for your slippers
Making room for a place where we can escape to

So much room and you at your own
You at your own, your own
So much room it is hard to breath
And if you are all mine
There will be no room for me

מפנה מקום
ברי סחרוף
מילים: ברי סחרוף ודן תורן

לחן: ברי סחרוף

אני מפנה מקום בפה לנשיקות שלך
מפנה מקום מסביב לשתיקות שלך
מפנה מקום בלב ללחיצות שלך
מפנה מקום בבטן שאוכל לבלוע אותך
אני מפנה מקום בתיבה למכתבים שלך
מפנה מקום בראש לשדים שלך
מפנה מקום בלחי לסטירות שלך

כל כך הרבה מקום ואת בשלך
את בשלך.....את בשלך
כל הרבה מקום את יכולה להישאר לישון
ואם תהייה לגמרי שלי
לא ישאר מקום בשבילי

אני מפנה מקום בארון לבגדים שלך
מפנה מקום באלבום לתמונות שלך
מפנה מקום מול האור לצללית שלך
מפנה מקום בחושך לנשימות שלך
אני מפנה מקום על הכר לשערות שלך
מפנה מקום בפינה לכפכפים שלך
מפנה מקום שאליו אוכל לברוח איתך

כל כך הרבה מקום ואת בשלך
ואת בשלך.....ואת בשלך
כל כך הרבה מקום שכמעט ואי אפשר לנשום
ואם תהייה לגמרי שלי
לא ישאר מקום בשבילי

NEKKED : The Wave That Takes Me Under

2007-01-23T16:21:00.000+02:00

Flight CO91 departing TLV at 11:40 PM

2007-01-21T13:11:00.000+02:00

10:11 AM, Yaffo, Israel

2007-01-21T12:57:00.001+02:00

10:04 AM, Yaffo, Israel

2007-01-21T12:53:00.000+02:00

There is no place like home PART II

2007-01-21T12:07:00.000+02:00

I spent Saturday in Jerusalem, in the house I grew up in for the last time. I promised my parents I will go through my stored boxes I have not opened for 5 years. The 30 jars of spices I left in a box was clear evidence I was not planning on a 5 year stay in New York, and more like 2 months. Well things turned out differently.