Esser Agaroth The approximate monetary equivalent of two cents. Commentary on life in Israel and on being Jewish. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 5 0 62 3997

Articles from Esser Agaroth

My Journey to the U. S. Embassy 2007-06-04 15:53:00 18 of the Third Month 5767I obtained my current U. S. passport just before I hopped on the plane to Israel. That was almost 10 years ago. So, it was time to get it renewed. It was also time for me to find out if the horror stories I had heard U. S. Citizen Services in Israel were true.U. S. Consulate, JerusalemGoing to the U. S. Consulate on the "East Side" of Jerusalem was out of the question. I am positive it would aggravate me to no end. So, for my own mental health and spiritual state of mind, I ruled out this option.I had written several times to Secretaries Of State Albright, Powell, and Rice about the dangers to visibly-Jewish Americans wishing to make their way to the U. S. Consulate in the eastern part of Jerusalem. I also pointed out that Americans do not live anywhere near this location. How many Arab-Americans in Israel are there? The U. S. Consulate location on Agron Street would be much more convenient for the great number of Americans living in the Rehaviah and N ...

Haveil Havalim #118 2007-05-27 09:30:00 10 of the Third Month 5767I would like to begin this edition of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival with some reflections,...some meta-blogging reflections.But, first, I had better introduce and/or remind those of you reading this what the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival is:Haveil Havalim is a carnival of Jewish blogs -- a weekly collection of Jewish & Israeli blog highlights, tidbits and points of interest collected from blogs all around the world. It's hosted by different bloggers each week and coordinated by Soccer Dad. The term 'Haveil Havalim,' which means "Vanity of Vanities," is from Qoheleth, (Ecclesiastes) which was written by King Solomon. King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and later on got all bogged down in materialism and other 'excesses' and realized that it was nothing but 'hevel,' or in English, 'vanities.'Before I first hosted Haveil Havalim, only about four months ago with edition #101, a fellow blogger sent me the link to a blog entry, and asked me if ...

NRP: They've Really Done It This Time 2007-05-25 17:41:00 Erev Shabbath Qodesh Parshath Naso 5767Hillel Fendel of Arutz 7 reports that National Religious Party [NRP] MK Zevulun Orlev claims to have 56% public support for his recently introduced, Sabbath-Sunday Bill."Orlev's bill would change the official approach to Sabbath as the country's day of rest. Though businesses and government offices would continue to be closed, places of entertainment would be permitted to open - and public transportation, now banned in most cities on the Sabbath, would be available for that purpose. The bill stipulates that such transportation and entertainment would be carried out with maximum sensitivity to the religious public."This has come up before in the Knesseth. Former MK Yosef "Tommy" Lapid of the ardently secular, and now pretty much defunct, Shinu'i Party had proposed this change.Yes. You DID you read that correctly: The arch-secularists were the last to propose such a bill.What is Orlev thinking?!I'll tell you what he is thinking. Recently, th ...

The Pigs Frown Today 2007-05-20 20:15:00 3 of the Third Month 5767Previously, I opined on the issue of Jewish-Christian dialog and cooperation in Pork Is Still Not Kosher.A special committee of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel was debating whether to allow such participation in an upcoming Jewish-Christian womens event.I am happy to announce that after some reconsideration, the rabbinic Committee to Stop Missionary Dissemination reaffirmed its ruling to ban participation in this event.Rabbi MK Benny Elon, head of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus, was not pleased by the decision, but said he would, of course, honor it.The committee members ruling unanimously against event participation included:Rabbi Simha Kook, Chief Rabbi of RehovothRabbai Yitzhak Peretz, Ra'ananaRabbi Sha'ar-Yashuv HaKohen,* Chief Rabbi of Haifa(*replacing the absent Rabbi Yehuda Deri, Be'er Sheva)In addition, Ze'ev Shtieglitz of the anti-missionary organization Lev L'Achim believes that he can put any questions to rest regarding the motivations and ac ...

Fatah, Nissan, & Azza 2007-05-20 00:15:00 Mossa'ei Shabbath Qodesh Parshath Bamidbar 5767The Kalashnikover Rebbe pointed this one out to me from tonight's Ha'Aretz front page on-line:Fatah gunmen leaving their positions in Gaza on Saturday, following a truce agreement between Fatah and Hamas earlier in the day. (Reuters)Without the caption, doesn't this look like a magazine ad for Nissan? I would like to suggest that this is not very good publicity for Nissan, not very good at all.By the way, we would also like to know what is it with terrorists and pick-up trucks? Have you ever noticed that terrorists like to hop into the back of pick-ups? What's up with that? ... Amp

Ya'aqov's Soup (recipe) 2007-05-18 15:53:00 Erev Shabbath Qodesh Parshath Bamidbar 5767Introduction:This recipe was designed for yeshiva bokhurim who want a break from being panned out to families for Shabbath meals, and just want to hang out with the guys for a change.On Friday night, a traditional, Yerushalmi dinner is made up of hallah, fish, and salads, (all of which can be bought). It it then topped off with chicken soup. (Below, I will provide some quick and easy ideas for adding to this simple dinner.)I thought it would be too hot for soup these days. But, after last Shabbath (Parshath Behar-Behuqothai), when it got pretty chilly, and soup was indeed called for, I decided to post this recipe.There are, of course, many of you who couldn't possibly imagine any Shabbath without soup. I, on the other hand, prefer not to heat up my small apartment during the summer months, by having the plata on all night and day. Nonetheless, summer nights in the Shomron (Samaria) are usually cool enough to warrant a nice bowl of soup. ...

A Little Divine Displeasure Perhaps? 2007-05-16 21:45:00 Yom Yerushalayim 5767Arutz 7 reports:Main J'lem Day Event Cancelled Due to Heavy Rains:(IsraelNN.com) The official ceremony marking 40 years since the unification of Jerusalem has been canceled, after heavy, unseasonal rains caught the nation's capital by surprise Wednesday. The ceremony was to take place at Ammunition Hill.There are traffic stoppages throughout the city, and a crater has opened up on Bar-Lev Way (highway no. 1), near Yehudai Border Police Base. The Mount Scopus tunnel is flooded and closed to traffic. At the Church of Gethsemane, two monks were rescued by police after they were caught in the flood. Tourists were also trapped at Shiloach. Several homes in Wadi Joz were flooded. Gee. Forty years, to the day, after the recapture of Jerusalem, on a day of rejoicing, and for many the saying of Hallel and Al HaNissim, there are unseasonal rains and flash floods.Celebrations for a day soiled by Knesseth passage of a method for new land giveaways to the Arabs, and continue ...

Pork Is Still Not Kosher 2007-05-12 22:47:00 Mossa'ei Shabbath Parshath Behar-Behuqothai 5767Hillel Fendel on Arutz 7 reports that the Chief Rabbinate is to Review its Recent Ban of the Christian-Jewish Conference, Woman To Woman, sponsored by the "Bridges For Peace" organization.The original report on the Chief Rabbinate Nixing the Christian-Jewish Conference can be read at this link.Everyone seems to be chiming in on this one, so why shouldn't I?Rabbi MK Benny Elon, head of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus, and Sandra Oster-Baras, Director of the Israel Office of Christian Friends of Israeli Communities, and resident of Qarnei Shomron, were not happy with the decision.And, although I do not know the specific opinion of Arutz 7 radio show host and Land Of Israel co-founder Jeremy Gimpel, I think I'll drag him into this anyway as well.Rabbi MK Benny Elon, head of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus, and Sandra Oster-Baras believe that they are very strict in investigating Christian organizations for missionary before engagi ...

More On The 2007 JIB's: Did You Do This, Too? 2007-05-11 16:39:00 Erev Shabbath Qodesh Parshath Behar-Behuqotai 5767Would you like to know how long it took me vote?WHEW!A VERY long time. No, it's not the fault of the JIB Awards site. It's mine, all mine.For many of the categories, I checked out the results first. I then made a point of voting strategically, so that the blogs and blogs posts I did NOT like would have less of a chance of winning.Needless to say, this took me a while.Did you do this, too?I'm evil aren't I?NYAH-HAH-HAH-HAH! ...