kook-y and links

just posting this link on kook here for future reference.

and this shul in colorado

and here's a nice new riders show to stream

The Tao of Judaism

Yay for people doing good stuff re: domestic violence.

And I love my dad. Just saying. :)

A Kindness A Day / Areyvut

(the calendar)

My pop hooked me up with one of these. At the end of the day, I cross off the day of the week and the year, so it can become a perpetual calendar. You can get one here for $3.95, "hurt," or for $8.37, new in box. This isn't an ad; I just like the calendar. You can find it here. It is spiral-bound (plastic spiral), and stands on the desk. Total desk / countertop real estate is about 4"x6", toward the end or halfway point of the year (each page is printed on both sides).
Content may be too fluffy from more well-versed readers, but I've yet to meet a rav who doesn't think constantly reviewing more basic materials isn't a good idea; ideas of how to apply ideas in today's world are neat, too; the indices (sp?) and resource lists are well done. If you do decide you want one, you can enter code "KADC-2009" for 10% off your purchase. I'm not familiar with any of the company's other books.

I learned what Areyvut is, and that's kind of neat. Pasted from their page (I wish they had that sort of thing when I was that age):

Areyvut: Mutual responsibility, accountability; the notion that every Jew is responsible for another. It comes from the principle found in Talmud Shavuot 39a where it states, “kol yisrael areiveim zeh b’zeh” meaning that all Jews are responsible for one another.

Areyvut enables Jewish youth to infuse their lives with the core Jewish values of chesed (kindness), tzedakah (charity), and tikkun olam (social justice).

Areyvut reaches out to Jewish day schools, congregational schools and community centers, regardless of affiliation to promote the values of chesed, tzedakah and tikkun olam and offers innovative and meaningful programs to make these values a reality for students and educators alike.

Of course, I would like to extend this notion Kook's fourfold song-style and reach out to every kid, and I try to do that when I volunteer. Spring Judo ended last Sunday; the gym floor will be resurfaced over the summer. Hopefully there will be summer judo of some sort. I should be well enough to get back on the mat, if not by then, then certainly by the time we start again in September. I love working with the kids, helping teach them how to apply martial arts philosophy to their daily lives. It's great.

4 Tammuz (misc. catch-up)

Hey, it's my Hebrew birthday. Will celebrate in Long Beach, NY, tonight by seeing Simply Tsfat at Long Beach Ave. boardwalk from 7pm-8pm. Had some fun with nanach fellows at chulent/bssbftuk on Thursday night, too. Good times.

Saw Penguin Revolution on Saturday night. It's ridiculous how good their trumpet player is. Not a bad guy, either. Long Beach is full of wonderful guys who aren't interested in me (and the one who is, is not for me). I might as well become Breslov. lol I'm kidding. I'm not going to wear skirts every day.

Looking forward to some live music this week, this weekend. Life is good. I had some great chats with my dad yesterday and helped my step-grandmother find her youthful smile again. My dad had a chest pain yesterday, while we were driving.

While it would be ideal for him to just die of a heart attack (no prolonged hospital/aging ickiness), I'm very glad he didn't have a heart attack while he was behind the wheel. The thought of my father dying upsets me very much, but I realize it will happen, one day. I hope I am there when it does. That would be a horrible phone call for my stepmother/sister to have to make.

My sister had a friend over while I was there yesterday. She introduced me to him as her half-sister. It's true, we're only 50% blood relations. I never held that against her, 'cause it's not like she chose to only be 50% related to me. I don't think she holds it against me that we're not 100% related, I think she was just being factual.

Still, it was the first time I'd heard myself referred to as a half-sister before. It was kind of weird. Oh, well. I really am. It's not like I live there, or anything. More like a 5% or 10% sister, if you measure by time spent. 3%, maybe.

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Just got word that a friend's pop died. RIP. :( :heart: