Pesach

Pesach is coming Pesach is coming Pesach is coming.  !!!!!  Where do we start?  I think the spring cleaning that most non-jews do originated from the frenzy we go into trying to remove the Chametz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chametz from our pantries and our lives (this tidbit was taken from my one of two rabbi's Kliel Rose).  As usual I have started a diet and am actually doing well on it so far.  I haven't lost any weight but I'm eating healthier.  We happen to be "boarding" in someone else's home right now so this year will be a bit of a challenge to kosher my home for passover.  I also do want to remove the Chametz from my life.  All the unneeded baggage we all carry around every day.  I believe I am finished, I'm ready to get rid of some bags  how about you?

What do you do in a situation like this?  So far I'm come up with the idea to get my sections of the house kosher for Pesach.  I will do this a little at a time beginning in the next week of so.  Wish me luck and sanity.

Here are a couple of great links for Passover goodies to get you through the matzah heaven we are about to embark upon.

Yummy matzaroni and cheese!!!!

http://www.kveller.com/blog/parenting/free-stuff-alert-passover-made-easy-cookbook/attachment/matzaroni-cheese/

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/category/passover/page/2/

Dreamers and DACA

Today I received another notification about a law our esteemed legislators were thinking about introducing.  You see our legislators want DACA eligible youth not to have access to drivers licenses.

Let me give you a brief explanation of DACA.  It means Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.  It applies to a minuscule amount of undocumented youth. It allows young people of a certain age to apply for a 2 year work visa so they can avoid arrest by being in the United States illegally.
Here is a link for a more in depth explanation:

http://immigrationequality.org/issues/immigration-basics/daca/

These children were brought here through no fault of their own.  Now let me explain to you the reasons I believe they should be allowed to take the test and get drivers licenses.

1.  The state of Tennessee has no authority to pick and choose which green cards, visas, documentation the federal government approves for non-citizens. This is pure discrimination.
2.  Allowing all residents legal or non-legal to get a drivers license makes our streets safer because if they have to take the test  THEY WILL LEARN THE DRIVING LAWS.  DUH!
3.  Allowing these young folks to get drivers licenses will increase the number who purchase auto insurance.  YES  wouldn't it be nice to have everyone on the road insured?
4.  These kids are marrying American citizens, and NO they do not get citizenship when that happens.  That is a MYTH.
5.  By not allowing these kids to get a drivers license and purchase tags the state of TN is losing valuable tax revenue.  But what the heck who needs extra money right?
6.  Drivers license's for DACA recipients are not a magnet.  THEY'RE ALREADY HERE!!!!!

Well back to the reason for this post, I contacted Joe Carr today who was kind enough to return my call.  After a vigorous back and forth (as Hillary Clinton would say) we agreed to disagree but he suggested I contact Jim Tracy (not a fan) and see if I could make comments before The Transportation Committee about this bill  SB209 .   I sent Jim Tracy and email and wow someone from his office actually called me back..  Long story short the bill has been dropped for now by the sponsor.  Lets hope it stays that way.



In conclusion I'd like to say these children are here to stay , they are not leaving, they have been raised as Americans, they're native country is foreign to them, please have a heart.

My grandchildren.

My little Isaac is being raised with a jewish influence, Sofia is being raised as Seventh Day Adventist, closing thing Christianity has to being jewish.

Why do so many Jews take their culture for granted?  I have many friends who basically know ZERO about their religion.  Converts have to work so hard to be accepted and get through the conversion even though it says in the Torah that they are to be accepted even if they know very little and are not ready to observe all the mitzvot.  

I know people who have moved here from predominantly Jewish communities and have a rude awakening when arriving in Middle Tennessee.  They long for the latkes on demand and the kosher delis of their past.  Things you have taken for granted your whole life suddenly have disappeared.  So basically what I am saying is don't take your culture or birthright for granted.  Embrace it.  I have a friend who was afraid to put her menorah up.  I suppose she thought someone would burn a cross in her yard but actually we don't do that in Tennessee anymore.

I am working towards conversion and hope I make it.  It has been several long years of studying and praying and learning and I have loved every minute of it.  One of the funniest things is when I tell a Jewish person that I go to an orthodox Shul.  They look at me like I have two heads.  You can see them thinking "oh crap I need to get away from this nut!'  It's amusing but annoying at times.  Wish me luck everyone on my travels through my journey to judaism.

Well went back to the doctor before going on my trip to Israel and have gained another 10 pounds.  I don't know how this is possible but the scales don't lie.  Today I'm trying to start my diet again.  We'll see how it goes.  Here is the link to the program I've signed up for.


http://rawfoodrehab.ning.com/profiles/blogs/beginning-a-raw-vegan-diet

Debs Life

Why is it that Jewish people know so little about their religion?  I am not saying all of them but many.  If you weren't raised in a religious home I thought at least most Jews would do the holidays and actually know what they mean.  I guess it is similar to Christmas in the Christian religion.  They celebrate it but don't go to church on most of their holidays.  It is very hard to understand at times why converts have to go through so much to be converted yet people born jewish basically don't have to know anything about who they are to stay with the tribe.

This has been a real conundrum for me.  You see it is not normal for people in Tennessee to "choose" to be jewish.  It is hard for me to watch people move here from places like New York, Miami, Atlanta, anywhere there is a substantial jewish population and arrive here and realize they have taken their culture for granted.  I have one person who was afraid to put her menorah up for fear of the neighbors.  Not that the neighbors would do anything it's just that stereotype people have about people from the south.  For the most part no one really gives a darn if you are jewish or have a menorah, they are probably more curious than anything.  Happy Chanukah and please share my blog.

Wedding

Spent the day AGAIN doing wedding stuff. We have one week until the big day. Much to my dismay I realized we picked a date that in the three weeks of Jewish mourning leading up to T'ish B'av. I will pray that this does not create some kind of hex on my daughter. Luckily she's not jewish so she doesn't really care although I do occasionally suggest that a seventh day adventist is just a Jewish Christian. Enough of that messianic stuff they are the real deal. But I ramble.

Happy to be off for the next two weeks, may have to get a part time job to pay for this wedding.

Shabbos

Good Shabbos all. I'm online and shouldn't be. Wanted to go to Erev Shabbat services tonight but didn't make it. Tomorrow night we are attending a benefit for my nephew's school. It is at Loveless Cafe and Allison Kraus will be performing. Not sure what she sings but I know I'll enjoy a night out with JR and my dad.

My dad seems to be coming out a little since my mother's passing in October. We made it through Thanksgiving and the holidays ok I suppose.

Met with the conservative Rabbi a couple of weeks ago. Torn as to what to do there.....I guess prayer will help me decide which direction to go at this point in my life. Plan on attending Chocolate Seder at The Temple on Sunday ....that should be interesting.

Sidney is moving out on the 8th. She's all grown up. later all

The Israelis

Had a great night tonight at the Schraugers. Met some very interesting people from Israel and also some great local people. gosh who wouldn't love the Israelis? They are intelligent, warriors, peace activists, nationalists and just great human beings who value life. I think they are fabulous. Again a great evening.

The Dream Act

http://dreamact.info/

This is my new project. I have a friend who is an illegal alien. He is a child in high school. Through no fault of his own he is in the US.

If anyone is reading this, for a moment put aside you bias towards illegal aliens and whatever you bring to the table. Imagine for a moment that your child has gone to school here most or part of their life. You have hopes and dreams for your child right? Your child has plans for their future , right? Maybe your child wants to be a lawyer, a doctor, a school teacher; well for the hundreds of thousands of undocumented children in the US this dream is an impossibility with our system the way it is now.

These children cannot go to college and if they are lucky enough to get into a college when they get out of school they are STILL illegal and will not be able to get a job! Our federal government has allowed these children to be educated until graduation from high school then they are hung out to dry. What are their options? Stay here, living in the shadows or go back to their PARENTS home country where they don't have a life. Their life is here. Please if you can look at this without bias , support the dream act. Look at the provisions in it and see if it is something you can support.

This Week

Well this has been a rather odd week.

Last Saturday I attended the funeral of a dear friend Jerrel Jeter. Jerrel was a great guy. I've known him since I was in 5th grade. He had lots of stumbles along the way after we became adults. He had finally gotten his life together, truly together and then BOOM the unexpected strikes. ILLNESS.

He had a wonderful wife, whom I didn't know but I can tell just from the short time I was around her in the past few weeks that she had helped him tremendously get on and stay on the right path. The only thing that has helped me with his passing is believing that G-d has a plan for our life. We may not know what it is or like it but it's the way it is. I can only hope that Sean, ( another friend who died about 6 years ago) was there waiting on him. Maybe he needed a friend to be there with him.

Yesterday I attended another funeral. This one was quite different. It was for Mrs. Scales who was almost 98. I can only assume that she accomplished untold amounts in her lifetime. It was a beautiful service and her family will miss her for sure, but 98 is a good long and fruitful life and I'm sure she outlived more people than I can even imagine.

This Week

Sunday

Missed the concert last night at the Shul thanks to my wonderful family. Has anyone seen the movie "houseguest"? that's my life right now.

Went to the synagogue Friday night for a little spiritual pick me up. G-d I love that place. Maybe I'll quit my job and become a strictly observant Jew. Can anyone pitch in financial donations??? LOL. ... Work tomorrow then in a couple of weeks I have vacation.

Sidney is sick.. Hope it's just a cold. Isaac is at Kenny's his PawPaw.

Next weekend will be devoted to Rosh Hashanah . I CAN'T WAIT!!!! See ya soon.

Saudi Arabia: Countering Terrorism With Brutal Repression

Saudi Arabia: Countering Terrorism With Brutal Repression

My quest to become a Jew

I can't sleep. I wake up thinking about G-d. What am I doing wrong? What am I doing right? How can I get there faster? It's the middle of the night and I should be sleeping. So to help myself I will start daily blogging about this issue in my life. I have people in Israel that are helping when I send them questions. Sent the Rabbi a very long email I'm sure he's gonna be thrilled to get that.

I should be reading Torah maybe that's why I'm awake. But instead of putting me to sleep it actually would be like picking up a really good book that I can't put down. Please G-d help me to be a better person and to have self control. I'm going back to bed but tomorrow there will be a long post about my quest up to this point.

Quick story, I go to Nashville last week. Run into a black hat Jew is all I know to call him. Never seen one before in public. I go knock on his window in his car. (probably a big fat no no) He rolls down the window. I say excuse me sir do you know where I can get kosher food.? (HG HILLS used to be there is Green Hills) He says Cincinnati and chuckles. Anyway he had a teenager in the back seat and she told me who to call. Now I don't think that is a coincidence. You tell me.

Lonely

Well I thought I wanted the house to myself. JR went back to work. Sidney is coming and going. Kenston and Isaac have been back at Erica's, for how long I don't know. Didn't sleep last night, the house was too quiet. I am in search of a dog, received an email with a potential dog for us. I miss Isaac when he's not here. I've gotten used to having him here!!!

Time for Desperate Housewives. I've been trying desperately to get a picture of a new bird in my yard. It looks like a Coal Tit but that's not common in this area. Maybe I'll get a picture and someone can help me figure this out.

This is my very aggressive Mockingbird. He/she thinks she owns the yard and constantly attacks my cat Paris Hilton.

Male Cardinal