For what its worth...

David tried to bait Yaakov by saying he only had one day. Yaakov tried to tease him back with his Essig Fleish comments. Then david found himself dreaming about blintzes.

I think David will win this one. Here's why. No matter how much Yaakov wants one day, he is not planning on moving to Israel until Moshiach comes (or maybe after, not really sure on that one.) So he will always be sitting here thinking on the second day that his brother is in Israel on vacation while he is preparing for Seder Round II.

On the other hand, David is sitting in Israel thinking that by the time he is 30, his parents will probably be living in Israel, and then he will not only have the single day of yom tov but mom there as well, making essig fleish and cheeses blintzes.

The end

Yesterday (wednesday) was a crazy stressful day. without getting into to much dull details we had to prove to the car towers that we were responsible for the car, and couldnt really do it. So instead of leaviung Detroit in the early afternnon we left at around 8:30 and got into Pittsburgh at around 1:30 am. First thing this morning we went to the car lot hopeful that they got the info they needed from the Brea's in Detroit. When we got there the Boss wasnt in, but his second in command told me that he just got off teh phone with Mr. Brea and he was ending teh info needed later today or tommrow. and he couldnt release the car to uswith out Mac(the boss) there. He did allow us to go to the car amd see what condition it was in, and we were thrilled to see that everything was there. After checking it out Mac showed up, and we showed him that we had a copy of the deed an dinsurance info, and he gave us the car. said e'd feel bad if we drove all teh way from Michigan and left empty handed. So we have teh car back, and life is good again. ...and now you know the rrrrrrest of the story

Yom Tov

Hi everyone,
we've had a nice yom tov, despite all the snow and rain that fell. Our sedorim were a lot of fun, good divrei Torah, good songs from the little Zacks'. We missed the rest of you, though. As Yaakov posted we had good food, thats true. Tonight we had homemade cheese blintzes, talapia fish, and matza pizza along with salad of course.
Shauli and Nat left tonight to go back to Pittsburgh:( makes us a little sad) Yonah started crawling on all fours today, so thats a new level, and ChanaElana is just cute. She sits and plays with stuff in her area.
Yaakov and Devorah are leaving tomorrow, and that will also be sad, we'll miss them.
But, we have Arye and Aviva back for the last days. :) makes us happy!!
Daddy and Daniel made a siyum today on Mishnaot Be'ah (really Betzah) and started the next one on their list.
Love you all and hope you're having a safe and fun Moed

dear israeli zacks(h)

i dont know if you guys put the shin in the name yet...
anyway since you like to talk about all of your "shorter" chagim than us i would just like to tell you what we had for dinner on our long chag. WE HAD ESIG FLEISH! and turkey and chicken, and kugels, and ESIG FLEISH! what did you have . oh yeah and then on tuesday night we had all of the american zacks' come over for dinner and we had pinwheel steaks, and lamb chops, and hoe made potato chips. if y'all want to come back to AMerica, feel free. there's always leftovers i have to go get ready for the next long chag

Chag for you, not for me

I tried blogging before Chag but it didnt work so I lost my blog. In short, I had a great story about our new relative Reb Yaakov Zacks (Zacks with a shin, not samech), who told me if I spell my name the correct way (witha shin) then ill have protexia. He really wants to meet dad. we shmoozed for like an hour but the main point was I sold my chametz.
as I'm blogging this, you Americans Zacks are in the middle of First day Yom Tov. You still have another seder, then another day of chag. Were finished. Were here in Maalot still. Sim was a bit sick for the seder, but overall chag was nice. Were off to a tzimmer (cabin) tomorrow.
Sim says hi. Hes on vacation now so maybe hell blog.
MyShans birthday is coming up. Last year it was on Yom HaAtzmaut (thats not Holocaust day, Yaakov, thats Independence day), this year its on Pesach.
Moadim LSimcha everyone.

meeting Uncle Yaakov (found the original blog)

I had an interesting experience today. Sarra and i went to a Rabbi to sell my chametz. His name is R' Yaakov Zacks. I called him first, and he was very exciting that Zacks' were coming over. We went in and he stared at us for a little but. Then he told me I look like his brother Zev and Sarra looks like his aunt. He asked where we're originally from (I said W Virginia but thats not what he meant) and which Zacks fam were a part of. So I gave him the Dr Schramm story about the city getting wiped out, etc. HE got very excited cuz thats his family story too!! Then he stared at us some more and told us that we dont have any goyish blood in us. He can tell from our facial features. He took out some book and started reading to us abt the family history. Its not too good. Two of our guys were hung on Rosh Hashana. He was also excited that I'm David cuz he has a relative David. I tried to tell him I was named after Isys Dad prophetically but he wasnt listening. Hes a 19th generation Israeli. He said that thats not too long though cuz his relatives got married when they were 13. I think he said something abt his dad and gandfather being the same age...He also told me I better change the way I spell my name, cuz all the important Zacks' spell it with a shin and not a samech. Were a very big clan in this country. He's descended from the Charlap, a big Rabbi who lived here (and also has a street named after him) He agreed to lend him to us so now were also related. But the best part is what made the deal, made him a 100% sure that were related. He asked me what my brothers do, and when I told him Yaakov was becoming an eye doctor he started shaking with excitement. Then I told him Dad is an eye doctor and he yelled to his wife with joy. There are 20 Zacks' eye doctors that are related to him, we HAVE to be!! We shmoozed a bit more, he promised to find Sarra her Shidduch if she invites him to the wedding, and we left. HE was very sorry we had to go but he had to Pesach clean. He made me promise to call him after Chag and told me again I have to change how I spell my name. He also wants to meet Dad when he comes in. End of the story, I sold my chametz so I was happy. Happy Pesach to Everyone!!

Curing Cancer vs. Eating Ice Cream

Hi all. It's Nat. Finally posting. There have been many times when I wanted to blog because all kinds of craziness is going on in our life but Pittsburgh doesn't have the convenience of internet at home or a babysitter so "spare" time is precious. Any time I do have to sit at a computer, I try to get work done.
Oh, and just to keep you updated - still no news on our missing car.
Ok, so back to the topic at hand. I had an interesting letter waiting for me when we returned home. It was from The Breast Cancer Association or something of the sort. In it was a letter, a check for $2.50 made out to me, and a return envelope. The letter said something like "I don't like to write checks but I wanted to get your attention. We just started our 2005 Annual Drive to raise money for breast cancer research and we need your help. So I am sending you a check for $2.50 and hoping you mail it back to me along with a tax deductible donation of $5.00 or more. It is a real check and if you want, you can cash it and ignore this letter but I hope you don't." And then there is a tear-off portion that says, Yes, here is your check back and a donation to help breast cancer research. or No, I cannot help at this time but here is your check back.
So I showed this letter to Shauli because I thought it was an "interesting" approach and kind of weird. And while we resisted our temptation to cash it (we were even on our way to the bank!) we thought we should send a letter back to them that says "$2.50 won't cure cancer but it will cure my craving for ice cream. Thanks!!".
And then we went to Baskin Robbins.

Fun on the Phone

I called a lady, and as she answered I realized I had called the wrong patient. So I apologized for calling the wrong number and was about to hang up. Then this lady (79something years old) told me "Dont call people if you dont mean to talk to them or I'll knock your face in." I thought that was cute. I called back the lady who couldnt see Dad cuz her house had just been shot up and she told me that know she fell on her tush and hurt herself, and she couldnt see anyone. I told her it cant be that bad and she told me it is, she has to pee every 15 minutes! We had a nice little chat. She thanked me for taking the time to check up on her.
Were looking forward to going to the Sims up north. Our place is almost pesaddized. We had our friends over for dinner, they already did bedika. Thats all thats going on. Shavua Tov to all.

"I have to go, someone was just shot (3 times)"

Tuesday night was shaping up to be a great night, Nat, Jonah and I went to our second baseball of the week, and we brought along Ruthie. Nat had really wanted to go to the game because the St Louis Cardinals were in town, so we went. The Cards blew the Pirates out and a good time was had by all.
We walked back t the parking lot where we left our car, and had little reason to expect that it wouldn’t be there when we got there. But we were sure in for a surprise when we got to the lot. Our car (really the AP's car) wasn't there. Our first thought was that it was towed, because we didn’t pay the ten dollars for parking. Let clarify, it wasn't like we snuck in or anything, but the guard had left, and the parking arm was up, we knew this would happen, because we parked there Sunday and had no problems. So we call the owners of the lot, to ask where the car was, and they informed us that they have no authority to tow a car even if it’s illegally parked, so the car must have been stolen. While this is going on, Jonah who had been an angel the whole ball game was getting hungry, but the extra bottle and water were in the car, so I ran of to a bar to find some water so we could feed the little guy. While I was at the bar, I saw a Police officer and told him what happened, and he said I should call 911 and they'll send a squad car down to the lot, and run the plate’s and see if it was towed somehow or if it showed up. Here's where we ran into a new problem, we had no idea what the license plate number was. So we called the AP's in Israel, they didn’t answer. I called Gil in the miracle hope that for some reason he had our invoice at home, and could give us the number, he didn’t. Finally I got through to Adina's (Mrs. AP'S) mom, she didn’t have it either, but was able to go to teh AP's house and get me all the info we needed. While she was looking the Police officer who came to help us informed us that he had to go because someone was just shot and he was the closest. He said when we get the plate number we should call it in, and if hes still around he will come back for us, otherwise they'll send someone else. Around 15 or 20 minutes later, we got the info, and the officer returned, and we gave him all the info. He told us that if they find it, they'll call us, and we have 30 minutes to meet them, or they'll tow it to the pound, and we have to retrieve it from there.
We called Zip and asked if him or his wife could come and pick us up, which Mrs. zip did, and took us back to White Oak. First though we needed a baby seat, so she stopped by Nat's cousin to pick it up, and the cuz sent a bottle for Jonah. Aside from the car and the baby seat we also lost our stroller, (and a piece of our innocence.)
At around 2:30 in the morning AP called us back to see what was up and why we left messages on every phone he has, and we told him what had happened. He said he'll call the insurance company (we are on their ins. policy, so that’s a good thing) he wasn’t upset at us, since we did everything in our power, we locked all the doors, we left it in a lot, someone just felt they needed a 96 Honda civic with a baby seat in it.
We are still coming home tonight, and we just hope they find the car still in one piece and the person who stole it still in it. And they arrest him and let us come and kick the crap out of him. That would be sweet justice.

No Responsibilities Whatsoever

It doesn't look good for the good guys. Most of the people who were excited about Yam L'Yam (hiking across the country) have begged out... I don't know if it is going to work out this time. I will conquer the hike, but it may have to be another time. Jessica (my roommate) and I were discussing what else we could do. The idea of shorter hikes throughout chol hamoed has come up, but that adds on lots of costs... where do we sleep each night... how do we get to our starting points every day... What do we eat... (if we were backpacking we wouldn't have a choice...pretty much just matzo and water) and a lot more planning... where should we hike, what time should we go... should we invite others... who?.... oh the issues one is faced with when they have no responsibilities whatsoever...

Yaakov Called!

Sim and David may be wondering what is so excited about Yaakov calling b/c I speak to the two of them on avarage of 15 times a day, but Yaakov called! I think he was calling b/c I was awake and he was awake and he wasn't sure who else in the world was awake, but no complaints here...Yaakov called!
So, there I was at the Ashkalon bus station waiting for the bus to Kfar Darom, when Yaakov called! There were about 4 busses worth of people waiting for the bus to open it's doors. Finally the bus driver appears, and lets us on the bus. Well, most of us. 3 busses of people were not allowed on. Included in that 3 busses of people were two girls I was traveling with. Myself and one other girl had made it on the bus, but the driver wouldn't let the other two on. Predicaments...do we give up the bus and throw our lot in with theirs, or wish for the best and be glad we made it. We called our hosts, who told us not to worry they'd find them a way in. So we deserted the others, stayed on the bus and sat on the floor all the way to Kfar Darom. The other two girls showed up about 1/2 hour after us, after having taken a taxi service to the main intersection and then our hosts borrowed a car to pick them up.
Kfar Darom is very interesting. There are about 70 families living there now - 45 real Kfar Darom families, and the rest there for the "special situation". (people have moved to Gush Katif to boost their numbers and show solidarity). Most of the house surround the shul that is still being built. Our hosts have lived there for over 11 years. They have 4 little kids, 3 girls and a boy. They are both originally from NJ - although they met and married here. They speak to their kids only in English, and their kids respond only in Hebrew. There is a garden right outside the yishuv called "Gan Hamitzvot" and a Museum about all the Mitzvot that are dependant on living in Israel. The Museum was closed on Shabbat, but we walked around the gardens.
One of the new residents moved from Maon - in Harei Chevron. Her sister and family lives in Kfar Darom. She brought her horse. I was thinking...what would my nephews/neices tell their friends...my aunts visiting and she's bringing her horse! Reason enough to get a horse....
On the way out, I didn't want to wait for the bus. The other three girls had bought round trip tickets from Ashkalon to Yerushalayim, but I assumed I'd get a "tremp". I caught a ride out, and when I saw the bus pass me about 20 minutes later I called the girls to tell them they had just passed me. They were a little surprised b/c the bus had never showed up... They are sleeping in Kfar Darom again tonight and catching a morning bus out.
Soon afterward I got a tremp to Efrat, and immediately from there I caught a ride straight to Katamon..
So now, I'm home...
Shavua Tov!

Eize Shiur!

I went to R' Riskins Shabbat Hagadol Drasha tonight. to be honest, I hadnt planned on going, but Shany had homework to do on the computer and Eli called and asked if I was going so I just went. I was very impressed. The topic was Tsunami: Are Natural Disasters Divine Punishments, and why do bad things happen to good people. His main point were:
G-d created an imperfect world with the purpose being of us to perfect it. Nature reflects human nature. So until we perfect ourselves, there are always going to be things like tsunamis and Holocausts going on. They arent cause and effect of anything specific, just nature taking its course.
If we were judged as we deserved, we would have been wiped out by the Chet HaEgel. Once we arent getting punished for sins, we cant complain about not getting rewarded for being good. It goes hand in hand. So were better off with bad things sometimes happening to good people, instead of everyone getting killed for doing bad things.
Mashiach will only some through our self sacrifice. The tenth plague was only able to come after the Jews killed the lamb and spread the blood on the door. Once they showed that they would do what G-d said even though they were scared of the Egyptians killing them for it, then they were redeemable. Also by Purim, the turning point of the story is when Esther risks her life to have an audience with Achashverosh. Bar Kochba could have been Mashiach, like R Akiva said, but the people didnt rally behind him and put themsleves at risk, so it didnt happen.
He told a great story that made me a big fan of his (this is especailly for Dad): Someone he knew died and he went to the funeral. There were two main groups of people at te funeral, kibbutznikim from the kibbutz he was from, and Yeshiva guys from the yeshiva he learned at. The Rosh Yeshiva came to tell everyone that the Tahara was almost finished and they wer going to start the funeral. He saw one of the kibbutz guys and asked him,
"Are you the one they used to call the Ilui (genius) in R' Shachs Yeshiva?
"Yes" he said.
"And wasnt R Shach mad when you left the Yeshiva?"
"Yes, he even sent me letters criticizing me for leaving."
"Those letters will be held against you in Heaven when you die!!"
"That may be, but the battles I fought for Israel, and the kibbutz I helped build will stand on my side, and I'll win."
The Rosh Yeshvia ended the argument at this time, and said,
"Yehuda, you havent changed!"
"No," he answered, "you havent changed. Your still living your life the way you lived it in Europe. You havent noticed its a different world were living in. Our mission is different then it was in Europe. I have changed. I have learned from the Holocaust, from the establishing of a Jewish State, that G-d is sending us a message. Its not a time to just sit and learn, its a time for action."
R Riskin was very moved by what the guy said and fully agreed with him.
All in all it was a very good Shiur. Lehavdil, after the shiur I walked with Eli into town and we saw a guy, with a small beard and peyos behind his ears, and nothing else. He was carrying a shirt with both his hands covering only his vitals. Just kinda walking around, not really going anywhere. At one point he tried to tie the shirt around his waist but it wasnt long enough. He had quite a large crowd watching him taking pictures until the cops came and took him away. I asked him why he wasnt wearing clothes but he just looked at me and didnt answer. I havent figured out what the point was. Shavua Tov to all.

Rita's and movies

Another week has gone by here in White Oak, Rita's during the day, and Nat and I relax to a movie in the evening. fro 10 bucks I can rent as many movies as I want in a month, as long as I only take out one at a time. Its a sweet deal, after 3 nights we were already saving money, unfortantly, there are no good movies out, and we see garbage all the time., with the exeception of deodgeball, which i really recommend to all. Workwise things are good, we're hoping to be back home soon after Pesach. have a good dshabbos

FORD backwards --> Driver Returns On Foot

earlier this week i said to my wife, "wife we have o get a new sticker for our car". yes in the medievel commonwealth we live we need to get our cars emissions tested. this is to generate revenues via tickets for expired stickers. well you guessed it, thenext day during carpool devoprah got pulled over because we have an expired sticker, only by two weeks mind you. if you get a sticker within 3 weeks the ticket goes away, so i went to the friendly auto zone and asked them ever so nicely to please turn off my engine light in the car so i can get my emmissions tersted. the engine is always on and it says the car is running too lean. nobody really knows what that means so they tell me to put fuel injector cleaner in, and i do. anyway i then went to get the car checked and they only take cash and its 29 dollars. so i figured i'll go after i hit the bank up for some money. would you beleive it, the engine light went on again yesterday morning so now i have to go get it turned off again but they didnt really like to do it the first time. i had to ask very nicely after he said no. you may be thinking if the engine light is on maybe something IS wrong with the car. i don't subscribe to that sort of nonsense. i've had several car places try to turn it off and its always back on within a week or so. so thats my story of the car,
and now on to family. after shira hit and pinched yael yesterdayt devporah asked her why she hit her sister and she denied hitting. seeing that wasnt going to get far devorah then asked WHY did you hit her and she replied she walked into her hand. and why did you pinch her my lovely wife asked, and she replied i was just pinchiung and yael walked into it. case closed its obviously yaels fault.
i saw several patients yesterday at clinic, and my favorite was the guy who came in and said when i take my glasses off i cant see very well, and i said when you wear your glasses is everything clear and he said yes. so i suggested keeping his glasses on. thats why i spend $100,000 on my education.

3 Hour Tour...

I for one am very excited about Pesach! I am going up to Sim&Golda's for Shabbos and Seder (no s), Chol Hamoed I am planning on meeting some friends by the Mediteranian Sea, and hiking to the kineret! It's a 3 day hike. I have a friend who did it last year, and he is giving me tips, so i'm not going into this totally blind. The hard part is getting a nice group together. A bunch of friends have said to "keep them posted", but no commitment there. Then some friends won't be joining if other friends do join...
And they all hate the Jews....
Anyway! I'm off to plan away!

It has begun

Simmy and I did half of our pesach shopping tonight. The lady at the counter couldn't beleive how much shmura matza meal I was buying, but last year we ran out. This holiday is crazy expensive for just one week!! But i am feeling that I might have a hold on it, well, except when i think about how much food i need to cook. I am hoping to switch over by wed. of next week. And the kids are home for that whole week and all the babysitters are doing b'nei akiva things!!
So we looked at our potential house and we both like it and we think it has alot of promise. So the question is do we make an offer hoping she doesn't think it is too low, or wait for her to get it evaluated and know what she is expecting around. There are pros and ons to both. But I'd really love to get the house. All in G-ds hands, we just need savlanut.
g'night ya'll.

back

After a lovely shabbos in Detroit we are back in Pittsburgh, and I'm at work again. (3 WEEKS!!!) Our stay at hoiem was nice, although I do feel bad that we didnt make it to R & V at some point over shabbos, but it got late quick. Sunday was an awesoem day. I woke up, got a haircut, then played football, for real not video game, After the game me Nat and mom in law went for pizza. We got home just in time to channel surf between the Pistons and Tigers. it was a great morning. TYhe drive back to Pittsburgh was also amazing. Jonah slept the enitre 4:45 our fear was that he would be up all night, but we felt we'd rather be up all night with him, then having him scream in the car. Thankfully our fears went unfulfilled, we stopped at Zips Pizza shop on teh way in, and woke up Jonah. (Zip is awesome, at 10:00 pm he's still in his shop, and he hooked us up with free food) after dinner we put him back in the car. We got home he had some energy but within a half hour was fast asleep, and slept through the night. all in all a great day, with the exception of it ending in White Oak, but only two weeks till we are back in Detroit

Nice Peasach Thought

Just heard this idea at the Kollel this am- Thought it was nice
Why must Pesach always be in the spring time? Peasach's main emphasis is on revealed miracles- In the springtime we see the rebirth of the trees- flowers- bunnies and we have to realize that both are Hashems miracles- one is more open and the other more hidden in nature.
Tonight Mom and I are going to David Kein ( the plummer) youngest kid's bar mitzvah.
Our house is getting very pasadicht- We bought Matrza and wine today- cleaned the downstairs kitchen and Mom is already a cooking.
Last year in Israel this year in Chutz??? oiy
have a great day

Scary Detroit

I am having the craziest conversation right now. This lady explained to me she cant have the doctor come because her lawyer is coming over. Apparently a few cops got drunk and went flying thru her neighborhood shooting around, and they shot up her living room while she was sitting in it. Now shes scared theyre going to retaliate cuz shes suing them. She thinks Detroits going to hell and she wants to move up north. I'm glad I dont live in a crazy country where things like that happen!!!

She's Trained

Nava's finally trained, but is afraid to poop in the toilet. Any suggestions, bedsides Ex-Lax? And, no, she won't go back into a diaper to "do the deed."

Thanks!

What Hockey Strike?

I'm not so happy with these bloger thing. I found a great article and tried to post it on Friday, but the blogger service shut down and wouldnt let me post or read comments. The article was about the Israeli hockey team which is apparently very good for its division and is on its way towards the gold. I dont know if its more important for arye or daniel, but i feel they need a country with a good hockey team. or at least good for its division. I'm havng trouble trying to phrase this thought, but I think the hockey level is around the same grade as the meat they serve in yeshiva. or something. Anyways, Shabbat was nice. We went to my father in laws school for a shabbaton. Gorgeous buiding, 4 kids to a room with their own bathroom and shower, and a really big room. In regular yeshiva standards that would be an 11 person room. We got it to ourselves. In the afternoon we went to visit one of our relatives in Bet Shemesh (between Shans Mom and Dad they are related to everyone in Bet Shemesh. The old mayor was her fathers cuzin, the new one is her moms, etc.) It was nice. They gave me red bull and vodka. Thats a big thing in this country. Now I am at my inlaws cuz I pomised to help clean for Pesach. me and my big mouth. Shavua Tov to all.

Fixed

I know it's been awhile, I'd love to say I've been too busy to be on, but that's just not the story... first the cord to my computer broke (it's since been fixed - thank you Mother Russia), then my internet connection wasn't working just right, and then the blogger wouldn't let me in... Shabbos somehow fixed those b/c now motza"sh everything is working wonderfully!
First, Mom's visit was great. I'm not going into details, but I loved having my Mom stay with me. It was really quite cool. I will admit I was a little nervous...but I had nothing to be nervous about. Mom - you can stay by me anytime! (and now I even know how to dust.... )
Shabbos this week (last week I was by Sim's it was great! had a lot of fun...) was interesting. Friday night I found myself one of about 45 people stuffed into a room made for about 10 for a funky Bat Ayin friday night in the Old City (of Jerusalem). Not my cup of tea.
Shabbos lunch I made here, we were 9. Very nice meal. I had two of my summer NCSYers from a few years back, 3 guys from the neighborhood (yes, "the cute guys") and two friends from Bar Ilan.
I lost 3 games of Rummikub, 5 games of Pente, and 1 game of Go.

hey

http://www.passovergreeting.com/
www.muffinfilms.com
www.cowswithguns.com

hey guys...i know you all saw the last 2 links there, but check out the first one...FUNNY!!! so anyways....moms back home...that means dinner every night...on time...with FOOD....it's SO weird....oh well- our house is clean again! (and my mommy's back!) dav and myShany the pictures from the wedding are AWESOME...theres a great picture of me and sar...aight- i gotta go clean up the mess i made...oh yeah- those WERE cookies....

luv ya guys!
peace
shev

Thanks

I would like to publicly thank Daddy for making a house-call (because I HAVEN'T passed, Dav) to check my eyes. It seems I am allergic to something in the air. Probably dirt, since we haven't had a cleaning lady in several weeks. But, I digress.

And I would also like to thank Batch for caoming over to "watch a movie" last night so Arye and I could have a date at Farmer Jack. (No shmoopie in the produce department...)

Boy, am I going to miss both of those things. Not to mention being able to call Mommy and say, "Can we come for Shabbos?"

Golda, can we come for Shabbos?

rolling pennies for gas broke

well we've hit a new milestone in the zacks househols. over $45 for a tank of gas!it's gonna be an expensive Pesach as we plan to drive over 1200 miles. but we are definitely looking forward to it.
this morning as i was bargaining with yael to put on the brand new dress her mom had bought for her she told me something that she shouldnt be saying for what, i thought, would be a few more years. (like 10) i said "whats wrong with the dress, its pink it has flowers, its beautiful" she said " I don't like the style". I informed her that she didnt know what that even meant, and we finally agreed that she would get dressed this morning and she was going to wear the gross dress, which by the way looked very nice on her and she actually did like it once she put it on and got to look at herself in the mirror.
school has hit an all time low... I'm almost done with class work now and i (and everyone else in my class, not that it matters what anybody else is doing or thinking) have absolutely no zitsfleish( that means we cant sit down and study.) clinic is going well i have seen about 40 patients this semester which is really good. and none have sued us yet. and most are happy when they leave, not because they're leaving but because we did good by them.
well, have a good shabbat to those of you that have moved away and to those that have not yet, i will talk to you before shabbos

going home

So far things have been working out well for us in White Oak, it's not the most exciting place to live, although they claim the Eruv is a few days away, and will for sure be ready by Pesach if not before then, but they have a Blockbuster, and we signed up for unlimited movie rentals so we have what to do at night. Natalie found aa way for her to get work done, and not have to pay for a babysitter. She goes to her cousins, who watches Joinah, while she works, or Ruthie hangs out with Jonah.
Thursday Night we are driving back to Detroit, this time in the same car, for a shabbois back at home, the reason my mom in law is coming in. Some people leave town when momin law comes to visit, me, I drive 300 miles just toi be there when she lands.
I think we have our Pesach plans, whel we would love to be with the Israel Zacks in Maalot, that doesnt look like it will happen. We wil be at mom and dads for the first days, and Chol Ha'moed. For the secondd days, it's back to Pittsburgh. Grandma, who we havent sen in a year, will be there as well and a bunch of Nat's cousins, and she really wants to be there (or here).
I still dont knwo when I'll be done with Pittsburgh, but Brian promises me that it wont be long after Pesach, they want me back in Detroit working from there ASAP.

solitude

Hello out there!! Well, it is quiet here for the first time is three weeks, but it's o.k. because it'll only last two days. Mom just called from the plane, she got on safely. Hopefully her flight will be a good one. We oved having her here. We did alot of fun stuff and we all got to spend time with bubby. Yay.
TheKlein's, our old neighbors from balfour, are coming up for shabbat. And then I have to heavily get into pesach cleaning. i only have a week until the kids vacation.
But we are very much looking forward to Pesach. The Israel Zacks sibling have agreed to come to us for pesach, so we are sxpecting a fun holiday. Of course Mom just gave me the run down of how to do motzei shabbat pesach, and since this is my first time, I hope it works. Sorry G-d, I am apologizing in advance.
Love you all, we'll miss you on the holidays, but in two years Ar and Vee can be part of the Israel Pesach Fun, wahoo!!

Its all Happening

A lot has been going on in the juniorest Zacks' family...Mom came to visit, that was a lot of fun. We spent Shabbat up north. I tried catching fish in a spring but I was unsuccesful. Instead we had melon before meat. But we still had our shot after the melon, so it wasnt too bad.
I took a calculus test over (cuz I failed the first time) I wasnt sure if I passed this time BUT I did!! I get a 77. I have never been so happy about a 77. I dont think Ive ever gotten one. But life has changed. MeinShany had a test that she thought she failed, and she got an 82. So school is going better then we thought, although we still hate it. In work, I feel its not a complete day unless I call someone and am told that they passed. I passed my test, but this is a different kind of passing. Sometimes they say deceased. Today, I went a whole day without one, til one of my last calls. Sender Zereweriedichkz. or something like that. I asked for him 3 times before the lady who answered said, "Sender is det" (like dead, but in yiddish). So I said my usual, "I'm very sorry, I wont bother you again". She responded "I'm also very sorry". I thought that was funny. They never esponded before. I havent decided which is worse. When I called someone and was told he had died 2 1/2 years ago, or when I called someone who had died that weekend.
In other deathly news, our laptop isnt doing so well. Someone (and by someone I dont mean that I dont want to say it was me or shany so instead I'm just saying someone, this was some girl I dont know) tripped on the cord and the computer fell to the floor. The screen now looks like a rainbow on acid. So we have sent it to Detroit for help. Hopefully we will get it back soon, happy and healthy. Luckily for us, Uncle Avi came through in the clutch, and lent us a laptop he has. he had already lent it to someone else, but he likes us more so we took it from them. Thats all that I can think of for now.

Hello Zacks Loop

This is my first time on the loop. Work is a bit slow right now, so I thought I would share something with you all from my shuir last night.

There is a mitzvah that says you should be like Hashem. (I forget the pasuk it comes from). Anyway, what does it mean to act in a godly way. If god brings a tsunami on indonesia, does that mean we should throw an atom bomb on our enemies as well, since they are both methods of mass destruction?

Obviously, god had reasons for destroying indonesia, reasons that we don't know, and he has information that we don't have, so obviously we cannot go around destroying communities without the same knowledge that god has. So what does it mean to act as god does?

According to Rabbi Klein, along with some books that back him up, this is a mitzvah that we can do all day, every day. We know that god takes care of his children, so if you have in mind when you are tkaing care of your child that you are doing it to imitate god, that act is a mitzvah.

We also know that god provides parnassa for people; we say three times a day Poseach es yadecha umasbeah lchol chay ratzon (or something like that). Since god works to provide us with a parnassa, if we have in mind while we are working that we too are acting like god, to provide a parnassa for our family, then the entire time we are working we are doing this mitzvah, to act as god does.

He added that since god feeds us, and takes care of us, if we do that for our family, and have in mind that we are doing it for the mitzvah, then you get mitzvah credit for cooking dinner, making the beds, and washing the floor.

Psycho Baby

Anyone have any advice for a Mommy whose baby daughter (almost 3 years old) keeps waking up in the middle of the night and crying for me? Ironically, by the way, she's also really clingy during the day. So the Mommy is exhausted and frustrated!

Anybody think this could be due to the fact that said baby is toilet training? If so, BRING BACK THE DIAPERS!

Going nuts,
Veev

Frai Doroni

Ephraim was outside playing tag with his brother in our backyard, when all of a sudden, I heard him shout "Mommy!!!!" I raced to the window to see him holding onto the ladder of our swingset and crying that he had a splinter. My hair was uncovered, so I ran upstairs to get a snood. When I came out he said he couldn't get down by himself, so I climbed up and helped him down. We ran iside to wash off his hands and take out the splinter. He actually said to me, "Please can we call Zaidy? He's a doctor."

I reminded Ephraim that he didn't shed even one tear during his suturing a few months ago, and that this would be nothing. I told him I am an experienced Mommy and that no one loves him more than I do. We washed him up and I pulled out the splinter. It was actually tiny. Now Ephraim thinks I must have gone to medical school like Zaidy.

Israel

Here I am enjoying myself on vacation surrounded by children and grandchildren. I know I should be feeling guilty that I'm here and you're not, but I'm having fun, even though the gorgeous weather changed to cold and rainy. I'm still having fun. Since being here, dinner is at 9 or later. I've eaten in the finest restaurants in Jerusalem , Naharia and Tevaria, not to mention wonderful food in Maalot, both at Sim and Golda's and the shwarma place. Now this is living.
Don't worry I'll come back soon.
Love
Mom

WIFE-LESS IN DETROIT

DAY 7- DEAR DIARY - THE MOLD GROWING OUT OF THE REFRIG DOESNT SEEM TO BE DANGEROUS. IT HAS AN INTERESTING ODOR AND IF I CANT FIND ANY FOOD TO EAT BY NOON I'LL TRY IT. THE MAY TAG REPAIR MAN SAID HE HAD NEVER SEEN A CLOTHES WASHER WITH SO MANY BROKEN DISHES IN IT AND I EXPLAINED THAT THE DISH WASHER WAS FILLED AND MY WIFE WAS OUT OF TOWN AND HE UNDERSTOOD

JUST KIDDING

Tonight-Motzei Shabbos-I went to hear Rabbi Reisman's satelite shiur live from NEW YORK- It was soo good. The topic was about doctors and how they are god-like. I always liked that rebbi.
Tomorrow is Sunday and I hope to begin Peaseach cleaning by attacking the downstairs freezer as I promised MOM . DONT FORGET TO CHANGE THE CLOCKS!! SPRING AHEAD
LOVE DAD

a day in the life...

4-1-05

Dear Judge
I recently received a parking ticket on Hereford St in the Back Bay. I believe this ticket was unwarranted and I will explain why. I parked there at 9:00am at an out of order meter. I came to move my car at 10:00am as is the rule with out of order meters and I found a ticket on my car. Someone came and fixed the meter within my allotted hour of parking and then gave me a ticket. When I came out I put money in the ‘fixed’ meter, and it didn’t register that I put money in. I have been parking in the Back Bay area for 3 years and this is my first parking ticket. Please take this into consideration when reviewing my plea.

Thank you for your consideration,


Yaakov Zacks