grumpy bear

While i'm at it

You took me by force
And from me -
no screams, no barrage, just a whimper

You took my by wiles.
A silent mourning arose in me
stretching into an eternal echoing in my heart.

In that moment
you took my mind
My childhood
My pride
My future
leaving yawning pain

I wished for a miracle.

"God! This one time,
undo time!
Rewind & help me.  Help me!"

There was no miracle.

You'd silenced even God.

A hush, thrumming, growing,
beating -
black wings of despair over
black waves of undirected rage.

Rage against the night!
Rage against the girl who
went gentle into her
undoing.

Cry for her
Cry with her
Sh - listen to that whimper
the silence
of her stolen life

The “Kosher Tax” Fraud

By Rabbi Yaakov Luban

 

Recently, an e-mail diatribe about the so-called “Kosher

Tax” has been widely disseminated through the Internet.

Various racist and anti-Semitic right-wing extremist

groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, have circulated this

misinformation for decades.  Today, these fraudulent

claims have been co-opted by terrorist organizations as

well.  The allegations are total nonsense and a complete

distortion of the truth.

 

The “Kosher Tax” memo is patterned after other class-

ical anti-Semitic works, such as the “Secret Annals of

the Protocols of Zion”.  Both the “Protocols of Zion”

and the “Kosher Tax” plant seeds of fear by suggesting

there is a secret Jewish conspiracy spearheaded by a

small group of Jews who wield enormous influence over

world affairs.  The “Kosher Tax” makes the ludicrous

accusation that a powerful syndicate of Rabbis extorts

exorbitant fees from food manufacturers by threatening

a crippling boycott of companies who do not comply.

These “blackmail” fees are passed on to the unsuspec-

ting consumer in the way of higher food charges.

 

The reality is that food manufacturers voluntarily seek

kosher certification as an important and effective

marketing tool. A kosher symbol signals that the product

is suitable for consumption by Jews, Moslems, Seventh

Day Adventists and lactose intolerant individuals, all

who have special dietary requirements.  In addition,

many consumers view the kosher symbol as an indepen-

dent verification of quality.

 

The retail cost of a food product is generally not

increased by kosher supervision.  The decision to seek

kosher certification is based on market research and an

evaluation that it is in the company’s best financial

interest to enter into a supervisory program. The modest

cost associated with kosher supervision is a miniscule

fraction of the total production expenditure, and is offset

by the often-significant increase in profit resulting from

expanded sales. In addition, many production and distri-

bution costs are fixed. When the volume of sales

increases, the overhead cost per unit decreases. The

bottom line is that kosher supervision brings in greater

revenue, and allows companies to reduce the price of

their wares, if they so desire.

 

The Orthodox Union, the largest supervisory agency, is

a non-profit organization, which provides kosher super-

vision as a service to consumers.  The revenue generated

by the certification program is used to cover supervisory

costs, as well as support a wide range of social services.

 

The current dissemination of the “Kosher Tax” lie ref-

lects once again that those who seek to achieve evil

goals through the use of terror are neither bound by

truth, integrity or moral values.

 

Rabbi Yaakov Luban is Executive Rabbinic Coordinator of the

Orthodox Union Kashruth Division

oh lord...

Subject: kosher labeling on non jewish food companys should be illeagal

for  the kosher labeling puting symbols  the ( U ) ad the ( K) Pareve  and  puting a so called tax on products should be illegal  i would  understand if your symbols were on JEWISH Food Companys ! but for non jewish company to have this label  is down right wrong  Freedom of religion !!  your enforcing people on a level that is influance on judism        

should christians  make labels to for there practice of worship  ash wensday black friday etc..  these lables are all year round !  should american  christians make a simular symbol s   today i check my cupboards and fridge and found out that 50% of my food is (U) labeled  why should one religion  enforce food companys to kosher thier products or lable them Kosher > >?   as there is many other reigions in this country some people mistake that the ( U )  lables Only mean Good Q(U)ality  it starting  to make me upset that im paying for a percentage to a Food company and a Jewish Religion   when im buying my grocerys  where does that percentage go may i ask! ??   to Israel a Forgin  country

>?   to a synagog  ??  Rabbi Fund <>? jewish Collage ! 

where does my money go !  im not pleased 

um...  does someone want to begin to explain to this gentelmen that not only does no one force any food to be certified, the cost of certification isn't paid for by him?

oh, snopes, you wonderful website.

T'Hilim

Please recite Tehillim for the two-year old grandson of one of my co-workers who is undergoing open-heart surgery today:

Ephraim Yitzchak b-n Sima Tova

first raw draft

You burned within me

Shouting truth

Wrenching my gut, tearing open my heart

 

Carefully cutting, I picked you

Out from within in me,

Chunks and splinters

 

Ripping my hands on you

Your fire

I breathed back with fire of my own

 

Pulling the charred skin back

To cover your hole

Your holes that flecked me, marked me

 

Anything to fill them,

To block the whistling emptiness

I was being consumed

 

Teeth, nails, blades, shards

Indistinguishable for the pricks to oblivion

- knowledge of your lies -

 

Rushing torrents of rage

Buffeting battering obliterating all I knew

Thought  I knew

 

Helplessly empty

Dropping to my knees

I cry out for you

/.

working on a poem

dirty little jew

that won't win you many Jewish votes.  well, other than one from my co-worker...

coolness!

today we got the coolest thing ever -

my father delivered our home 'theatre' system:
27" flat screen TV
VCR/DVD player
surround sound speaker system
kickin' TV stand

party at my house!

wedding-ness

pictures! get your pictures!

ah, back to life.  back to reality.  with a tichel.

tired

a few words of advice, then i must collapsse in bed. 

1. if you can, try to skip one night of sheva berakhot.  you'll feel better with something to look forward to and some rest.

2. try to prepare speeches more than 12 hours in advance - you'll fell less stressed out.

3. register for stuff you don't want at a department store, then return it and buy all the electronics you need.

that's it for now, brain function is about to cease.

ideas

am speaking this Shabbat as well as next.  any ideas?  i've been stuck on the red string thing for days now.

more 'ideas to be avoided'

1. going to your chatan's auf ruf without sleeping the night before

2. getting locked out of the house of the people you're supposed to be staying with - not because you don't have a key.  you just don't know which house it is.

3. sleeping through said auf ruf.  (this is partially due to the fact that we didn't get in to the house until about 1 am on shabbat, when someone finally showed us which house it was, so we couldn't set anything up - like an alarm clock or what not.  also, we were in the basement, and the lack of sunlight/windows let us sleep in quite nicely.  plus that fact that noone woke us up.)

3a. kicking people when they say "oh, look, there was a whole auf ruf, and you came for it, and slept through it.  that's so funny".

4. storing 12 foot poles for the chupah in the car so there's no room for people to sit in the car

5. fighting with future mother-in-law over said chupah and its decoration (not upsetting because she disagreed - no, i was tired and grumpy and therefore capable of literally biting her, or anyone else’s, head right off.  i held myself back)

6. after the exhaustion of the weekend, watching a creepy movie with toby at the apt.  way to ensure i don't sleep well.

so, yes, children - the week before your wedding, things are busy.  and you will be tired.  be smart.  don't do favors for people, don't be nicer to others than you are to yourself.  if people wake you up at quarter to 2 in the morning, curse them out and hang up.  if you can't get back to sleep, call them back to curse them out again.  you'll feel better.

it also helps to grab an extra bag of candy and whomp it at your chatan's head when he's not looking.

gpa

i needed a 2.0 to make it:

speech - A
civ - B+
soc - C+

GPA - 3.11

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

line of the night

saturday night, my mother to avs:

i don't mean to be familiar, i'm just looking for a place to put my hand.

copepods and such

i've  been with this since day one, and i have to say - ew.

the guys who discovered the whole issue was here again today, this time with live samples, videotape, and samples taken from his faucet.

i know more about water and copepods than i ever thought possible.  i can tell you which kind of bug it is by how it moves through the water, and that a baby copepod is about the size of the first space in the 'E' of the phrase "IN GOD WE TRUST" on a quarter.

i can tell you that we are furiously investigating the water, and that no matter what they say, i will use a filter cause they grossed me out.

 in fact, there's a whole lot i can tell.  but i won't.  you don't deserve to know!!!!!!!!!!  ahahahahahahahaha

love my friends

funniest response to our sheva brachot invite:

I am taking summer classes in MD this summer and can't make it :( But I do wish you guys lots of Mazal and Simchas, and would like to echo all the sentiments about this being the coolest 7 Brachot idea EVER. Man, Dan you are a freak, but in a good way:)! All my best guys, and I hope to see you soon!

2 things

Elisheva bat Naomi is doing better, please continue to daven for her.

avraham, full of his usual love and affection, tripped me last night.  granted it wasn't on purpose - his foot somehow ended up beneath my shoe.  and now i have no knee!  well, it's covered with purple and scrapes.  ugh

refuah shleimah

Please daven for Elisheva bat Naomi who got married on Sunday night, fell on Monday, and is now unconscious.

thoughts

so there i was over chag with a pulled hamstring, kinda bored, watching meredith fall on her head (briefly)...  and i realized that single life is almost over.

that's cool.

the schedule is as follows, near as i can tell - we got our marriage license on friday.  i had a shower at my sister's house on sudnay, one at my apt last night.  my lovely cousin spent the night, and we got to play a little.

this shabbat is the aufruf.  next shabbat is my shabbat kallah.  then there's a wedding.  mine.  that's gonna be a hella long day.

then i get to go live with the cutest boy in the whole wolrd.  forever. (if you think someone else is cuter, that's ok, but don't mention it here.  this is MY blog)

dream last night - it's my wedding day, and noone woke me up, and there's no time to do my hair or make up so i kinda do it myself, a little half assed.  which is fine.  then there's this snake chsaing me, and i kill it, and it's trying to bite me, and then i woke up and was thinking about the witch from wizard of oz and i was so freaked out i couldn't go back to bed.

yeah, i was reading wicked.

anyhow, so here i am, tired...  and hungry.  bye!