Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Haaaaappppy Birthday Dear Natalie
Happy Birthday to you.

sarra memories

so as our week winds down here in motown we were thinking of how to get Sarra to coe back home and live. so i decided we can make a blog of all of our sarra memories and she'll feel so homesick she'll be on the next plane. so i asked Batch for some memories and she said she has no memories of sarra living here. i stopped and thought for a moment and decided that was good enough. her sister has no memories of her. how sad. they should be seperated for so long as to not have any memories of her only sister.
see ya soon.
love ,us

Blocking Spammers

I checked on Blogger help. There is a way to stop spammers. It is annoying, so before I put it on I wanted to get your opions. You know that annoying Yahoo! confirmation thing that you have type what it shows it? (If you want to sign into a Yahoo! group, or briefcase, or really join anything new...?) Should I add that to the Loop? Questions? Thoughts?

Packing

Just found out not everyone knows I'm moving. No, not down south - although the idea has been thought through. I'm staying in Yerushalayim, but moving to Baka (yes, where the posy's live) Now I'm pretending to pack. I actually walked around today and asked for boxes, and really really considered starting to pack. That's about as far as I got. I think the first stage in packing is a clean organized room. So I watched a movie. (Actually a really interesting one, Bobby Long).

house agreement

Ok. I admit it, I gave in and offered more money. But only because I thought we had agreed on a price before we went in there and then they started complaining about money. I wasn't feeling good and had a big headache and I offered them more money, just to shut them up.

In any case, hopefully we'll have a contract signed in the next week or so. We'll keep you informed.

GOOD CO./ BAD CO.

a few weeks ago aviva bought a new shirt at a fancy shmancy store and cleaned her floor with it thereby getting it all bleached. she called the store who said well, what do you want me to do with it? exchange it!? what would YOU do? to which aviva answered i guess not. well i said think of the lifetime value of a customer. if they exchange just one shirt and it puits them out $15 then she's almost guaranteed to go buy another shirt there in the future. i call them a bad company. fast forward a few weeks. devorah bought a new brita pitcher because the one we had "fell out of the fridge". it was in several pieces but all the kings glue (horses become glue) and all the kings men couldnt put brita pitcher back together again. so we were sitting at the table eating dinner last night and the new brita pitcher "fell off the table" (i'm not sure why this keeps happening around me) so the cover of the pitcher cracked but is still usable. so i called the company and i told them the situation and the guy said no problem we'll send you out a new cover, no questions back and forth, no saying what would YOU do just asked for my address and the name of the pitcher (we named it bob) and a new part will be sent out. we should get it in 2-4 weeks. thats a good company, and if i break this pitcher in a few years i'll be sure to buy another one ( or call and tell them it broke and see if they send a new one)

On the Rivers of Babylon....

Its amazing how split this country is. On the one side, people holding sign, "We will not foret and not forgive", or "They threw me out of my home". On the other side, town is mobbed with more then the usual amount of people going to eat or just hang out.
I spoke to Sarra earlier, she is still down south, not in Gaza but in Nitzanim, helping the people whove been evicted to settle in.
I went into Center One today, its right next to the hotels where they put a lot of the evictees. It was extremely depressing. You can clearly spot them. The kids in orange with the big kippa sruga and even bigger peyot. The old man with the beard and the orange hat, looking around, confused. The little kid walking around, biting his tzitzit hard, looking as frightened as could be.
There was someone sleeping near the city entrance this morning. He had a sign, "Kick me out of my house also". There were sign all over the city entrance showing support for the evictees and against the government.
I went there last night, there were probably a bit over 100 people, quietly holding signs. There were cops guarding them in case they planned on blocking the highway, but this wasnt that kind of protest. As I was standing there a bus passed by, full of people that had been evacuated and sent here. We all started clapping and singing as they came by. It was so sad, but amazing. They arrived at the hotels and people were waiting for them with food and just support.

Welcome Home

Just to let everyone know, Mom Dad and Shev have arrived in Detroit, or Galus as they put it, safely this morning.

tisha b'av memories

how come some of my earliest tisha b'av memories involve the schwartz and and raspeberry jam? anyone?

Us

The Shu and Nat family has gone to St Louis. Nat will be here till next Friday, and I will be home Monday morning for work. We just thought that it would be nice to get away for Tisha B'av, and where better then a place thats hotter and more humid then Detroit? The real reason is because Brother Adrian ( YO ADRIAN!!!!) will be in town, and we havent seen him or his wife in a while. Sadly I still won't see him for a while, because he is getting in on Monday after I depart. We plan on seeing Cousin Rayna on Sunday, she goes to school in STL, and will stop by and do some Tisha B'av mourning with us. Have a good Shabbos to all, and we shall see all the Zacks's who plan on being in Detroit, or all the American Zacks next shabbos!!

house for sale?

we have recently come to the realization that our house might be up for sale. this realization did not come from being told by the owner of the house nor by one of the owners children or family member but by a perspective buyer that started asking questions about the house.as for me i think this is just plain wrong. i think we're insulted that A) we weren't told that the house was going up for sale and B) we weren't given first chance to make an offer. sure the whole world knows we plan to leave but they could still offer us the option first to buy. Man plans and G-d laughs. so we spoke with mrs p and we didnt mention it to her and she didnt mention it to us. she did however want us to get rid of mickey. we aren't sure if she knows that its up for sale. it could be her kids are doing this and she might not be able to handle the truth. she's been living with family in NY since pesach. now we are just hoping that whoever does buy the house lets us live here and if not then we'll be very sad. i mean do they plan to show people our part of the house? do they plan on letting us know about it? our neighbor came over the house yesterday telling devo that she saw somebody "looking" at the house. we don't even know who was looking or who was even showing. so we're in a quandry. do we confront them? and who is them?? and the people that informed us of the whole thing that are thinking about buying have about 8 kids. and they plan to live upstairs HUH? it has been so pleasant living here with just MRs p and i just don't see how it could be pleasant even a little bit with another whole family upstairs. so your thinking babysitters! but no , they have 8 kids under the age of 9 or something lkike that. anyway have a good shabbos hopefully we'll still be here on sunday

wrong line of work

we had a pest control guy come to the house this morning because we seem to have a mouse in the house. he spent about 35 minutes and put out 10 poison yummies for the mouse and charged $300. so i'm giving up optometry and going into mickey's school of pest control. and then i'll be making the big bucks!
yael has mastered the monkey bars but thats old news and her blisters have all healed, yesterday she rode on a two wheeler! all by herself, no-one helping her. i guess her strong willed attitude can be put to good things too.
shira has mastered needing at least one napkin everytime she picks up food. we're very proud of her.
and chanalana has mastered its a spoon full of sugar, and being able to stand up all on her own and clap and reach for things too. anyday now she'll grow a tooth. I'm sure of it.

happy birthday mom

Thanks to You

I'd like to publicly thank my baby brother-in-law Shauli for schlepping my old, broken treadmill up the stairs and replacing it with the new one from my car.

To keep everyone up to date, I bought a floor model at Sears today for $230!! It's awesome! I'll try to sell it sometime in June, though. ;)

kotel davening

wow...i was just at the kotel, with a million other people, all davening 4 gush katif...it was amazing. everyone, sephardi, ashkenazi, chassidic...people w/ kippa sruga, ppl w/ black hats, ppl w/ moshiach flags...all davening, praying, crying together....flashes going off all around from the pictures everyone is trying 2 take, trying 2 capture the feeling, the people, wantoing 2 share it with their family and friends, wanting to remember it....it was pretty cool....everywhere u look, people, on the balconeys of the buildings, on the hills, on the cars, on the plaza, in the old city, all the way out to yaffa gate....people there to save gush katif, to daven, to show support......tell me where u can find that in america! tell me where u can find that besides the kotel...

in other news, i hate my life and it sucks

they're ready to sell

They're finally ready to sell the house. I'm going to talk to the lawyer today to write up the contract and God willing we'll sign it on Monday.

We'll keep you updated on this historic venture.

First for Everything

Yesterday was a bunch of firsts. I went to my first Azkara. Papa Joe died around 30 years ago, and every year they have an Azkara. Its basically mincha, then everyone reads a few pieces of Zohar, then we eat a lot, someone says a dvar Torah, and we daven maariv and go home. Interestingly, the dvar Torah was about when you kill something accidentally, and the whole arai miklat thing.
Another first was in the tremp home. the in laws stayed in bet Shemesh so we tremped home. The guy we got the ride with was flying, taking turns on almost two wheels and switching lanes back and forth. We caught up to a cop car, and here's where the first came in. He tailed the cop, made him switch out of the right lane, and flew past him. I have never seen something so cool/dumb in my life.
In other good news, I am finally insured.

Let the fun begin

SUCCESS

We have finally the first completed the first stage of business here in Michigan. Last night I presented our program to the Ypsilanti School Board and they accepted it. The hope is now that we have one, the rest will follow like sheep.

Now comes the fun part, finding the advertisers, and bringing money into the company.Things are gonna get interesting here at InSight Media

The birthday game

I would like to dedicate this post to my eldest sister-in-law. Who called me before I met the family, just to be friendly, who started the sister present, who was so liveley that I could be my quiet self and who is one of my best friends. Happy birthday Veev. Loves and kisses, the Israel Zacks.

I miss meat

I know what you're probably thinking, It's been one day of no meat how can you miss it already?

Usually Sunday nights are reserved for either BBQ or Shabbos food. As I hung out with Jonah, I thought about the chicken that I couldnt eat, I and mourned teh destruction of teh Bais Hamikdash.

Huge props goes out to Nat who made a great mac and chesse casserole, and made me forget about my missing meat.

This begs the question, why was meat banned?

Question of the Day

If you could be any color crayon (like the crazy Crayola colors; macaroni and cheese, tickle-me-pink; or just blue or green) what color would you be? I think i'd be midnight blue- anyone else?

Shabbat Plans...

Plans included getting home from the protest rally early enough Thursday to go up north with Mom & Dad. That didn't happen. Next plan included meetin D&S at the bus station at 12:00.. That didn't happen. So I didn't make it up north. Okay, so I didn't make it because I slept until 5 pm. Yes, 5:00 PM. 'bout 17 hours of well needed sleep. So now, what to do? It's now after 5 pm on Friday, and I don't have a phone b/c I gave it to shev when she left the rally the day before I did...
Mom gave me a few numbers from my phone. One call lead to more numbers and before I knew it I had a place for both lunch and dinner. Gotta love this neighborhood.
Anyway, Man Plans...

Dinner

I decided that I wanted to make Pizza for dinner tonight. We have had this Betty Crocker pizza powder (you mix it with water, and you have dough) for a while, and I decided that today was the day to use it. I walked over to the vacant home (otherwise known as the mothership, or Mom and Dads) and borrowed Mom's pizza trays, you know the ones, they are circle with little holes all over it.

I mix the dough let it sit for a few minutes, just like the instructions say to do, and when I pick it up, it's crazy sticky. I pour flour all over the place, try and throw it up in the air, but nothing so working it still way to sticky to use.

I almost gave up, but I decided I'd come this far, I would give it one more try. I get the pizza on the circle tray and stretch it out, pull it into a sort of a circle, and use a rolling pin, since parts of the "circle were far doughier than others.

I made the Pizza it looked great, until it was time to serve it. When I pressed down on the pizza in my attempt to shape it, the dough had gone through the circles. So when it baked the crust baked through the tray, making it very difficult to serve. After much work, we got the pizza of the tray, but not without a few casualties. Every piece lost most of the bottom layer of their pizza.(It may difficult to imagine this, because its not normal, so think of it like a sandwich. You got the cheese, sauce and part of the dough. Then the middle metal part, and finally the bottom layer of dough. This is what was lost.

From now on if we make pizza I think we'll just use the pre-made dough. Now my question how do I wash the tray, its got the bread stuck to it pretty tightly.

disengagement

The Loop

Well, the girls went off in orange today to join the busload of people going to sderot. I sent them with mixed feelings. No, I didn't want to go, I just want them to be safe and have a meaningful experience. That may mean fun, bonding, whatever.
We hope to see them by Thursday afternoon as we'll be going to Sim and Golda's then for Shabbos.
I Love you all

Latest Fadicha

So last week, Dr K told me he needs to see patients in St Clair Shores. We have very few patients there, but I worked it and got him a full day. Then he called me that night and told me he hadnt been able to see half of them. So I had to call them back and have them yell at me because the doctor not only didnt go see them, but didnt tell them he wasnt going to come, and so some of them were waiting from 12 for him to come, and he didnt tell me til after 5 that he couldnt make it. Then he was supossed to go see them, but each time, he couldnt make it til we finally decided on this Tuesday. So I kep trying to call one of them back and she wasnt answering, so I called her daughter.

Hi, I'm calling from Dr Z's office, the eye doctor, in regard to Martha
Oh, she passed away
I'm sorry
Its ok. Thank you for following up.

Was that sarcastic? her mom died not seeing so well, and shes thanking me for following up after cancelling her appointment? She didnt tell me when she died, but it didnt sound like it was yesterday.
In other unrelated news, I have a big test on Thursday. We went to the Begin musuem yesterday. Very interesting stuff.
Big protest going on tomorrow. I wont be there due to my test. Hopefully it will keep going through the weekend and I'll join then.

the lord in the wall

Some people feel that the lord makes the Western Wall holy. Other people cannot see the lord in the wall. But it is there. If you look towards the upper center of the exposed part of the Western wall you can very clearly see a capital L. You have to ignore it. Right next to the ignored letter there is a lower case l, which may look like an uppercase I to the untrained eye. After the lowercase l there is an obvious O. right after that is a lowercase r. The r has a little hook on the bottom, and that is to give reward to those who see it anyways and punishment for those who scoff and say it is not an r. This is similar to the reason why God made nature seem so natural, so that scoffers have the ability to say, there is no lord. If it were obvious, there would be no freedom of choice. Finally, after the r is an upper case D.

Tradition has it, that this is the spot that the lord's presence was felt the most during the time after the bais hamikdash was destroyed, but before the mosque was built. There are 2 traditions as to how the word lord appeared on the wall, in the exact spot that the lord's presence was felt. On commonly held view is that it was chiseled by Reuven ben Chaim, a known sculptor in the second temple era, as the second temple was burning. He felt that as God's house was burning, he would make a new temporary home for the lord close by until he could have a new house built. The second tradition is that it appeared miraculously one day as a beaten and battered woman was standing at the wall pouring out her heart to the lord. She finally cried, lord, show me your sign. When she looked up, she felt some light debris fall on her face and then she saw the word lord engraved in the wall. There were eyewitnesses to both accounts, so it is possible that they are both true, and that after the second temple was burnt, the word lord was covered by dir and debris, which wasn't knocked off until after the woman's prayer.

Until Eliuyahu Hanavi comes and clarifies, I suspect that it will remain a question in some people's minds of the exact significance of the lord's name.