This week's Torah portion is Ha'azinu where we are told that Moses will not enter the Land Of Israel as punishment for being a bad boy for not taking G-d at his word a couple of times.

Here's my question for the rabbis....given that Moses was allowed to see Israel, his real punishment was not being able to feel and walk the land. However, I assume that Moses would then be able to experience Israel via his soul once his body had been buried. What exactly was the punishment then? That he wouldn't be able to perform the mitzvot that one can only do in Israel? That he could not enjoy the Earthly pleasures of the land? Or is it these and more?

Secondly, how does that rank in the annals of punishment? I was raised to think that this was a pretty harsh move on the part of G-d. But is it worse than being swallowed up by the Earth, or plagued with boils and lice? The more I think about it, the more confused I get about the lessons we're supposed to learn other than the simple - "if you don't listen to Daddy, I'm putting you in Time Out! Permanently!"

After several years of being off the air, the paternity of Seinfeld's Cosmo Kramer has finally been discovered.

Hope everyone is having a good Rosh Hashana. Here's another recipe for brisket with cranberries and portabello mushrooms that brought standing ovations last night. OK, maybe that's a stretch, but 5 people did a pretty good job of obliterating what was an almost 4 pound piece of meat.

Our rabbi added a very moving prayer for children before his sermon yesterday that brought me to tears. If you have children of your own (and even if you don't) I defy you not to cry when you read this. Just picture your own children who are G-d willing, healthy and happy. Then think of how most of the rest of the world's children live.

I recorded the 3-hr finale of the history of New York series on PBS and finally got around to watching part of it. I have to admit to only watching the last hour which focused on 9/11. When I have more time perhaps I'll post what I saw that day, as I think that anyone who was a witness needs to have their memories recorded for future generations. I think it's so important that we remember what we felt that day so that we never become complacent again. As far as I know the only way to generate those feelings is to "go to the video". I don't think I can put it much better than country singer Darryl Worley in "Have You Forgotten"

"They took all the footage off my T.V.
Said it's too disturbing for you and me
It'll just breed anger that's what the experts say
If it was up to me I'd show it everyday"

I'm not saying that people should live in perpetual fear or anger...just do remember that we live in a world of good and evil and that all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

This Friday night begins Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Since I love to cook, I've been trying to think of things to make for the holiday. Becuase I've been out of town most of this week, I started preparing earlier this week by making a honey-pumpkin cake. I couldn't help but try a piece and it came out great, and I would definitely recommend it for someone who wants a twist on the traditional honey cake.

One interesting culture clash between my Argentine wife and I. When I told her that American Jews eat honey cake for a sweet new year, she said that they don't do that in Argentina - they eat something called leikach. I never heard of that before. Turns out it's the same exact thing. Since leikach sounds like Yiddish, maybe that just shows my ignorance and lack of yiddishkeit. Here's the recipe in Spanish if you want it.

Another thing I found interesting about my time in Argentina is how Hebrew is transliterated into Spanish. The two main differences between English and Spanish is that Spanish speakers use the letter "I" for a yud and "J" for the guttural "ch" sound. Therefore, Yom Kippur becomes Iom Kipur and Pesach becomes Pesaj. G-d only knows what Hebrew looks like in Japanese or Hindi!

Wow. And to think that when I was younger I considered what was written in the newspaper as equivalent to the word of G-d. Perhaps we should all chip in for a hearing aid for the offending reporter.

So...the New York Times is supposed to be the bastion of fairness - "no bias to see here...just move along"! I know that normally people like to point out bias or opinion seeping into their news coverage of the Middle East. However, this opening line in a Business section article really disappointed me on a number of levels:

"There are few activities Sanford I. Weill, chairman and chief executive of Citigroup, likes better than watching his company's stock price."

First, is this supposed to be a statement of fact? Remember this is a news article in the Business section, not an Op-Ed piece. Second, isn't there just an undercurrent of anti-semitism when you declare that someone named Weill lists counting his money as his favorite activity?

Maybe the Times can start all of it's stories on the rich and famous in the same way. Here's a good example - maybe the Times will hire me - I think I've got their style down pat:

"There are few activities that ex-president Bill Clinton enjoys more than screwing redneck, big-haired secretaries. Yet, today, Mr. Clinton was awarded a humanitarian prize for his work with Bosnian Serbs".

Give me a break and stick with reporting the news!

OK. OK. So I didn't drag myself out of bed this morning to go to the Plano Balloon Festival. We've got a newborn at home, and well, the idea of waking up early on purpose on Sunday seems a little ridiculous in retrospect. Also, it seems that the launch this morning was at 7AM and sunrise was at 7:14. I don't think that would have made for good pictures anyway. I never went to photography school, but I think I've heard that light is a pretty important element of good photography.

Apparently, the president of Argenitina, my wife's home country, is planning to spend Rosh Hashana in a shul in NY. I know the link is in Spanish - but if you don't understand, shouldn't you be able to read the primary language spoken by one out of seven of your fellow countrymen?

This week I'll be in NY on business, just in time for the United Nation's General Assembly, otherwise known as the "The World Comes Together to Blame the Jews" Conference. After the latest vote supporting Arafat, author of this and this, I am seriously considering vacationing in the Marshall Islands or Micronesia which were the only two nations voting with the U.S and Israel against the resolution.

This week we read Parsha Nitzavim-Vayelech (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20 & Deuteronomy 31). For those who don't know, it is Jewish tradition to read a portion of the Torah (Old Testament) during morning Sabbath services each Saturday. We start with Breishit, the "In the Beginning" part, soon after the Jewish New Year. There are 54 portions altogether, which means that on some weeks, more than one portion is read.

Anyway..back to this week's parsha. Here's the passage that I'd like to comment on this week:

"For this commandment which I command you this day, is not concealed from you, nor is it far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who will go up to heaven for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?" Rather,[this] thing is very close to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can fulfill it."

Some say that this passage is trying to tell us that the Torah and G-d's commandments are accessible to all and that we don't need intermediaries to seek the truth or go "in search of ourselves". Right and wrong is in you...your heart knows what is right and wrong...when you speak, you know when you lie or when you've offended someone and you know when the same is done to you. The study of Torah reminds us to follow our heart and to avoid loshon hora (speaking evil). If we do these things, the good deeds proscribed in the Torah will flow naturally.

Good Shabbos!

The one thing I will admit about this blog is that I'll never have much time to think through and present my own opinions on anything. You'll have to figure that out by inference. My goal is really just to inform and maybe make you crack a smile even if I'm piggybacking off someone else's wit and good sense of humor.

I think the trends you'll see here are a love of Judaism (more about that later), generally conservative politics and a fascination with just about everything that I don't yet know, which is a whole heck of a lot.

You can tell though, when other people are serious about their blogs becuase they take the time out to coin new words and phrases. Here's a great example, regarding leftist post-Afghanistan philosophy :

"But we should have stopped there, and let the UN deploy its extra-strong Frown Beams
against the Iraqi ambassador..."

Who reading this post cannot imagine a Frown Beam from Hans Blix or Kofi Annan? Or Dick Gephardt for that matter? Frown Beam comes from James Lileks, who I will be proud to list as my first link on the right (no pun intended.)

If I have time, I'll post a Shabbos message a little later this afternoon - before sunset of course. This is the time of year for Jews when we're playing our own version of "Santa Claus is Coming To Town..." except instead of hearing jingle bells you hear a ram's horn (shofar) letting you know that if you were more naughty than nice, you've got some serious repenting to do - and warm cookies and milk aren't enough to buy off the big guy Upstairs.

I'll be starting off the week (Sunday) taking pictures at the Plano Balloon Festival assuming the weather holds up. Photography is my hobby, but I haven't done much since moving here a year ago. In Plano, you've got a lot of flat, a lot of brown and barely enough trees to take a landscape photo, unless you count cellphone towers that look like trees.

Since I am committing myself by this website to do something relatively useful with my life, I will be posting my pictures to my long-neglected "business" website. Yeesh, to think that I paid for 1000 color business cards and gave out all of about 3 of them. My wife, mother, and sister are very proud of my work.