It's hard to feel cheated when you're not paying for a service. But I can't help but feel like I've been ripped off when day after day I go to my favorite blog pages and discover that the blogger doesn't care enough about me to write on a regular basis.
Certain blogs, like Robert Avrech's, I've learned not to expect more than once a week. And that's fine. I wouldn't have the emotional fortitude to write like that more than once a year. But other blogs, like those of a friend are my way of keeping in touch with friends who are otherwise too busy for daily or thrice-weekly phone calls.
I realize that I am not one to talk, considering my lousy record. But then again, my blog really isn't that fascinating to begin with. When I started the blog, I had dreams that this would be the impetus to write an Emanuel Feldman "Tales out of Shul" type book. But then I found that it's not so easy to write, especially when my gripes and foibles are about people who are still alive and recognizable and too many people know who I am already. I should have remained totally anonymous so that I could speak about family and friends and not-friends in a more open way. But the temptation of immediate blog-fame was crouching at the door with her desire for me and I could not master it. So I told those same family members and friends about the site. The only time the site gets any serious traffic is when the rabid liberals notice that I've posted some conservative thought. And even though politics obviously interests me, it is the least of the missions of this site.
I conclude this post with a call to my fellow bloggers. Please don't slack off. We in Yehupitz count on you.
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and a little miffed that the screen went blank during my vacation time.
More later.
I have been trying for the last few months to get a view of the entire White House, including the West Wing, Executive Office Building etc.
The only pictures I can find are of that front view of the White House that everybody sees. I can't picture how all these parts connect.
I understand that for security reasons I won't get a full set of blueprints. But would someone please send me a link of a basic view?
Thanks
I am always hearing the complaints of modern- and centrist-orthodox Jews that Chareidim are constantly making life more miserable for themselves and society at large by adding more and more chumros to their lifestyles. Some refer to this as the Chumra of the Month club, the accusation being that they are adding a new chumra to their lives about every month or so.
I don't want to comment on the frequency issue. But sitting here, I have been unable to think of any examples. I'm having a mental block. Would the people reading this blog please provide examples of these chnyok-y chumros the Chareidim are conjuring up.
Thank you
I have discussions with people about the theory that government or society should have in providing for the poor. The Jewish argument in favor is that Jews have always mandated tzedaka and have implemented it on a community level for millenia. The Talmud in the first chapter of Bava Basra mentions community funds used to help the poor. The argument is made that the modern welfare state is a natural extension of these historical Jewish practices of community tzedaka.
Fair enough.
Except for this story.
Here is the relevant paragraph that struck me:
"The chairman of the Jewish Agency, Sallai Meridor, commented Sunday that it is very bad for Israel to have an image of a bankrupt state unable to feed its poor. He added that any feeding program should rely on the state budget, not on handouts."
If the welfare state is an extension of the Jewish tzedaka principle, S.Meridor's objection makes no sense.