Well, as many of you know I was in a lot of pain the past few days. I woke up Tuesday at 4am and my one side of my face was huge, very very swollen.

Here are two pictures

Here are a few pictures of the beauty of Today.

I hear we are supposed to get more snow Tuesday/Wednesday.

Blessings and Shalom

Prejudice  against or hostility towards Jews, often rooted in hatred of their ethnic background, culture, or religion.

I have been thinking about this a bit recently. There are a few reasons for that. One being that I have heard that Anti-Semitism is at the highest that it has ever been since WW2. Another reason I have been thinking about it is because of a comment my grandmother made…She wondered if I was not worried about my children’s safety or that they would be teased because they have “some Jewish blood.”

The word “anti-Semitism” is inadequate. It is a misnomer. The word was coined in 1879 from the Greek words “anti”, meaning “against” and “Semite”, meaning a descendant of Shem.

Anti-Jewish, and Jew- hatred, are more descriptive.

During the Middle Ages in Europe there was persecution against Jews in many places, with blood libels, expulsions, forced conversions and massacres. A main justification of prejudice against Jews in Europe was religious. The persecution hit its first peak during the Crusades.

1190 A.D. Massacre of Jews in England.

1240 A.D. Talmud burned in France.

As the Black Death epidemics devastated Europe in the mid-14th century, annihilating more than half of the population, Jews were used as scapegoats. Rumors spread that they caused the disease by deliberately poisoning wells. Hundreds of Jewish communities were destroyed by violence.

1421 A.D. 270 JEWS BURNED AT THE STAKE. In the 14th and 15th centuries the Inquisition was more intense because the Church and State joined forces. Just being Jewish guaranteed persecution

The Chmielnicki Uprising  when Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s Cossacks massacred tens of thousands of Jews in the eastern and southern areas he controlled (today’s Ukraine). The precise number of dead may never be known, but the decrease of the Jewish population during that period is estimated at 100,000 to 200,000.

In 1744, Frederick II of Prussia limited the number of Jews allowed to live in Breslau to only ten so-called “protected” Jewish families and encouraged a similar practice in other Prussian  cities.

In 1772, the empress of Russia Catherine II forced the Jews of the Pale of Settlement to stay in their shtetls and forbade them from returning to the towns that they occupied before the partition of Poland.

There were expulsions of Jews from England, France, Germany, Portugal  and Spain  during the Middle Ages as a result of antisemitism.

German for “Jews’ sow”, Judensau  was the derogatory and dehumanizing imagery of Jews that appeared around the 13th century. Its popularity lasted for over 600 years and was revived by the Nazis.

1945 A.D. HOLOCAUST Final Count: 6,000,000 Jews slaughtered.

Antisemitism has increased significantly in Europe since 2000, with significant increases in verbal attacks against Jews and vandalism such as graffiti, fire bombings of Jewish schools, desecration of synagogues and cemeteries. In Germany and Austria, where antisemitic incidents are highest in Europe, physical assaults against Jews including beatings, stabbings and other violence increased markedly, in a number of cases resulting in serious injury and even death. The Netherlands and Sweden have also consistently had high rates of anti-semitic attacks since 2000.

2010 – There are so many that happened already this year…here are a few….

A knife-wielding man shouting “I will kill Jews” attacked a synagogue in downtown Moscow Wednesday, slashing and stabbing at least eight people before the son of a rabbi wrestled him to the ground

Antisemitic graffiti was found at Mount Sinai cemetery in Portland.

Swastikas were spray-painted on yeshiva school buses at Williamsburg, NY

Anti-Semitism can be compared to an iceberg, where only a relatively small portion is visible to the casual observer and the greatest mass lies below the surface. Typically people see or hear about only the most horrendous examples of anti-Semitism, such as hate crimes that hit the headlines. The incidents that receive public attention are really just the tip of the iceberg.

Subtle slurs, graffiti, and other expressions of bias that do not make it into the news can be likened to the 90% of the iceberg that remains hidden below the waterline. All individuals need to recognize ignorance and insensitive behavior for what it is. While taking care to not overreact, it is important to recognize that ignoring small transgressions can lead to more serious incidents. If you ignore subtle bias, you help foster a climate in which hate crimes can occur.

What can be done to reverse the rising anti-Semitism? What are your thoughts about anti-Semitism?

These pictures were taken 7:45-8am and they are still talking about another 6-8 inches of snow yet.

Please Pray for C (age 5) that he can go to school tomorrow…has fever and cough. (yes…my son is home sick on my birthday)

Today I am another year older. It is my birthday. I was born 28 years ago as a Preemie. I was so tiny I could be held in the palm of your hand. I had to wear doll clothes made for baby dolls because it was not easy to find preemie clothes back then for little babies.

This is a picture taken of me when I am a couple of months old. When it was finally nice and warm out and Papa (My grandfather) could take me out on the swing. It is also when I was finally fitting into newborn clothes…no more baby doll clothes for me

Here I am on the swing again a few years later with my Papa

My daddy and I. We both lived with Mama and Papa (Grandma and grandpa) after mom left until Dad got remarried when I was 4. For 6 months after that I lived with him and his new wife but after that I moved back in with my Mama and Papa.

My fifth birthday…..Party at McDonalds!!!

Me and my horse

The Tichel (טיכעל) also Mitpachat is a headscarf  worn by married Jewish women in compliance with the code of modesty known as Tzeniut. Tichels can range from a very simple plain color cotton square with a simple tie in the back to very elaborate fabrics with very complex ties using multiple fabrics.

Once a woman is married, she enters into a completely unique relationship with her husband. This transformation is alluded to by the Hebrew name for the wedding ceremony, “Kiddushin,” which means sanctification or holiness.

Through this act, the bride and groom are totally and utterly dedicated to each other in a holy coupling. This dedication manifests itself in both an internal and an external form, in many ways, and for both partners.

One of these ways is by a woman covering her hair, which is viewed by Judaism as a sensual and private part of a married woman’s appearance. By covering her hair (even with a wig, which may be mistaken for real hair) a woman is expressing her exclusive devotion, love for, and unique connection to her husband.

Even if others do not realize that she is covering her hair, she has the constant awareness and consciousness that she is one half of a unique and profound relationship, sanctified by G-d Himself.