tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60776092011-09-07T09:49:19.121+03:00(Note: may contain less than 30% of either French or Israel.)Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.comBlogger421100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1110997232090941992005-03-16T19:52:00.001+02:002009-05-04T22:05:09.547+03:00

One of the products of the blogging culture is hyper-realistic journalism. For those who can keep up, blogs have converted the art of reporting and commenting on news. The whole phenomenon has been well studied by James Lileks; I'll provide links if anyone is interested.One of the conventions that bespeaks honesty in a blogger is his or her use of the strike tag in html (demonstrated in the

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1109451940270588132005-02-26T22:45:00.000+02:002005-02-26T23:16:35.856+02:00

Treading Fences writes:One more thought - not all innovations are secular in nature or loazit in origin. How do the writings of HaRav Kook, who created words himself, fit into your "modern hebrew" scheme. The words of HaRav Kook are new, and yet are arguably a lashon of/for kodesh if not lashon kodesh itself (solely tanachik in strict def?)The answer is, of course, that I don't know. I cannot

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1109444862181752732005-02-26T20:54:00.002+02:002009-05-04T23:44:41.987+03:00

Long-time readers may remember Adi Neuman, who was my ḥavruta (Talmudic study partner) in yeshivah something like a year and a half ago, until I was married. Adi introduced me to the modern art of blogging, which I had previously relegated to the back of my mind under "Web Journals -- see amateur, context-free writing that nobody wants to read anyway". Needless to say, I discovered that it

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1107414543204233602005-02-08T23:49:00.000+02:002005-02-09T00:27:53.040+02:00

Those who have seen the musical comedy My Fair Lady, or those who are unfortunate to know only this version of the Pygmalion story, may remember the song "The Rain in Spain", which contained this line: "Ay" not "I", "O" not "Ow", Don't say "Rine," say "Rain". This was sung by the virtual Greek Chorus of Professor Higgins' cleaning staff to the low-class Eliza Doolittle, who seemed incapable of

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1106910789317183952005-01-28T11:21:00.000+02:002005-01-28T15:32:46.493+02:00

Last night we ate a dish of farfalle (recipe here). This is a sort of of pasta known in English as bow tie pasta, for obvious reasons (see photo left). In Italian the different varieties of pasta are mostly named for animals that they resemble. Vermicelli, for example, means "little worms". Farfalle means "butterflies". (singular farfalla). It hit me a while later, while the food was

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1094546080706581892004-09-07T13:58:00.000+03:002004-09-07T12:10:44.380+03:00

One year as an Israeli. One year of developing deep relationships with people whom I never knew before 2003, the large marjority of whom also left their homes, somewhere, to come here. One year of identity crises that make the act of getting dressed each morning a Statement that I never intended to make. One year of exploring my ancient roots in an educational environment that was built

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1094322622816892192004-09-04T21:09:00.000+03:002004-09-04T21:30:22.816+03:00

Was sitting at the Shabbat table with family today, and they wanted to finish reading all the Tehillim [Psalms]. The way this works is, the entire book is broken up into several small booklets, each containing five or six Psalms. This is normally not the kind of thing I go for, if I'm in a synagogue and the time is limited. Because my reading is that slow, and I want to do it right. This is

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1093433021631731282004-08-25T14:06:00.000+03:002004-08-27T09:45:17.963+03:00

Coming Soon to a Neighbourhood Near You Some explanation: Kever Rachel = the tomb of our mother Ra'hel, wife of Ya'akov, whom he buried in Bethle'hem. Hevron = Hebron Diskont = English transliteration of the Hebrew transliteration of the English word "Discount" (cf. Mark Twain, Jumping Frog: In English, Then in French, Then Clawed Back into a Civilized Language Once More by Patient,

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1092842228186954932004-08-18T18:12:00.000+03:002004-08-18T18:17:08.186+03:00

Self-referential warning sign This is between Giva`t Mordekhai and Nayot on HaRav Herzog highway. I do not think I have ever seen a sign spell out its genre before. Note the extra length needed for that purpose.

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1092401319294918682004-08-13T14:53:00.000+03:002004-08-25T17:08:36.496+03:00

Speak the Language of the Hebrewman Israeli singer Ehud Banai (his official site here; you can browse CDs for purchase here) has a song on his most recent album Ana Li titled "Hebrewman". It's a sort of rallying call for the Hebrew language. Speaking Hebrew connects one to an ancient tradition going all the way back to "Let there be light", and can be used for everyday use by persons today who

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1091462741719301352004-08-02T18:12:00.000+03:002004-08-05T23:51:39.816+03:00

Since beginning Ulpan Etsion a couple of weeks ago, a few things have become clear about my aliyah, in August of last year. I would like to mention a few of these experiences, as it may be of some help to those who are in the process. I'm also helping that someone who is more experienced, and can see the mistakes I'm making, will perhaps enlighten me so that I can avoid future trouble. This is

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1090571336993409762004-07-23T11:15:00.000+03:002004-07-27T22:53:37.706+03:00

I'm blogging from downtown Jerusalem, Yaffo Street. (Or "Jaffa", as some people call it for some reason.) It's been a little more than a week since I moved into my new apartment, and a few days since I began my official Oulpan. And everything is going great. Bezeq was amazingly quick at installing my new line in the apartment. Kavei Zahav was wonderful about moving my DSL account from the

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1088362902253782472004-07-01T00:54:00.000+03:002004-07-06T08:04:51.910+03:00

It could happen to anyone. You have arrived in Israel for the first time in your life. And you are about to spend your first day in a yeshivah. You have spent a week in Yeroushalayim with friends and family of friends -- people who had never seen you before, but who are part of the network of kindness and hospitality that comes naturally in our religion. That makes you proud and grateful to

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1086861991916560142004-06-10T08:25:00.000+03:002004-06-11T09:21:04.480+03:00

Where were we? That's right: the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount. I should give you an idea first of what we are talking about. This panorama was slapped together from nine photos that I took with a PDA (a Palm Zire 71), and though I think it turned out better than the one I made from photos at Ma'arat HaKeshet; you be the judge. (Disclaimer: the process of taking the best material out

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1086352921381054972004-06-04T15:19:00.000+03:002004-06-04T16:19:35.223+03:00

So I was a bit too ambitious on Wednesaday morning. [Note to self: never start with "so".] I did indeed join my yeshivah group for a stroll around the archeological park of Jerusalem's southern wall with Rav Beryl Wein, and I took a boatload of photos (like the one here of Hulda's Gate, which used to be an entrance to the Temple). I learned a lot, and have a lot to say about it. But I

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1086149760129096952004-06-02T06:32:00.000+03:002004-06-04T17:03:37.850+03:00

Just got back from the néts [sunrise] minyan, which not only leaves me with ample time for breakfast, but also for writing a blog posting before shiour in yeshivah at 9:00a.m. Counterintuitively, waking up at 4:45a.m. or so and getting out the door in time for such a minyan also gives me energy throughout the day. I try to do it at least once a week, though seven times would be much better.

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1085866817961902782004-05-30T00:12:00.000+03:002004-05-30T19:00:51.903+03:00

Shavoua Tov Happiness is being in a synagogue on Friday evening and hearing Enrico Macias tunes used as niggounim. "Lekha dodi" sung to the tune of "Toi Paris, tu m'as pris dans tes bras", for example. The crowd there is mostly unorthodox. By that, I mean knit-kippah, and a variety of clothing. Some coloured shirts. Some suits in colours besides black. Very few hats. Not necessarily a bad

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1085668333639974842004-05-27T16:21:00.000+03:002004-05-27T19:16:07.996+03:00

I don't miss "yontiff". That's one thing about leaving the American Jewish world that I am happy about. Of course, I also have to get far, far away from my predominantly English-speaking yeshivah neighbourhood to avoid it. In Givath Mordekhai, the little corner of Jerusalem where I just spent Shavouoth, the greeting is "'Hag Saméa'h" (or "Chag Saméach" for those of you who aren't yet used to

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1084053852679313562004-05-09T01:04:00.000+03:002004-05-09T01:24:02.170+03:00

Lag ba'Omer Photos Blogged tonight from Jerusalem Family bonfire below Bayith VeGan (Shalom Hotel in background) Yeshivath Hevron, Givath Mordekhai

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1083076187035086802004-04-27T17:29:00.000+03:002004-04-29T22:52:05.090+03:00

A brief anti-frumspeak rant Ba'al-ga'ava-dik has to be the most unfortunate word in the yeshivish lexicon. Roughly translated as "relating to an excess of pride", with a "ba'al ga'avah" being a person who has too much pride, or is literally a 'master' of it. My spelling can't do justice to its pronunciation. You can't read this with European vowel sounds, as we usually do with Hebrew

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1082620236221493952004-04-22T10:50:00.000+03:002004-04-26T22:39:58.060+03:00

A quick tour of Israel Caught up in this issue about the dates and the importance of national observances, I have neglected to continue my story about discovering Israel last summer. Tuesday 10 June 2003 A few members of the Simone family (my hosts, who were family of Atlanta friends) took a free day from work in order to show me some of Erets Yisrael. We took a trip to the city of Teveria and

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1082317948812398132004-04-18T17:52:00.000+03:002004-04-18T23:54:55.780+03:00

Apostrophe's: They're not just for Americans to misuse Here is an oldie from Dave Barry. Dear Mister Language Person: What is the purpose of the apostrophe? Answer: The apostrophe is used mainly in hand-lettered small business signs to alert the reader than an "S" is coming up at the end of a word, as in: WE DO NOT EXCEPT PERSONAL CHECK'S, or: NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ITEM'S. Another

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1082263706999138322004-04-17T22:48:00.000+03:002004-04-18T08:08:19.750+03:00

The game Thanks to Terry Teachout, who is much more important in the blogosphere than I, for this game. It's simple. 1. Grab the nearest book. 2. Open the book to page 23. 3. Find the fifth sentence. 4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions. (And send the quotation to me, too.) Result The honest truth: equidistant from my hand when I read those

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1082099970972309672004-04-16T10:19:00.000+03:002004-04-16T16:52:56.076+03:00

I'm famous! I have one line in this morning's HaAretz Anglo File by Sarah Bronson about anglophone bloggers in Israel. Sarah contacted me earlier this week asking all about my philosophy of blogging, and I poured my heart out to her. What I got in return was this not entirely accurate sentence: Other than their generally right-wing leanings, Anglo-Israeli blogs are as varied as those who write

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1082125622474485522004-04-14T17:27:00.000+03:002004-04-16T17:32:26.123+03:00

It's the spelling that makes it good Poyo Loko is: 1. A Hispanic rapper or something, in the West-Coast Latin group ITPG (Innocent Till Proven Guilty). 2. A mispelling of the Spanish words "pollo loco", meaning "crazy chicken". 3. A kosher Mexican restaurant in Jerusalem. Sorry that this is the best shot I could get of their ad campaign. It clearly features a psychologically disturbed

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1082100784111165632004-04-13T22:22:00.000+03:002004-04-16T10:37:02.780+03:00

As mentioned yesterday... (It's so good to be Sepharadi.)

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1081800612043236402004-04-12T23:10:00.000+03:002004-04-13T17:04:32.500+03:00

How I spent my spring vacation Pessa'h [Passover] just ended tonight, and I will soon be chowing down on spaghetti, unlike many of my friends who are still in holiday mode and doing an eighth day because they intend to live outside of Israel. Sorry, guys. For the traditional Sepharadi world, tonight and tomorrow (or tomorrow night and Wednesday for those living outside of Israel) is the time

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1081287474752018552004-04-06T23:37:00.000+02:002004-04-16T16:50:23.653+03:00

Please identify me! The time has come to track down the identity of this Israeli man, or at least the source of the photo. I'll tell you what I know. The photo was printed in a textbook, copyright ~1953 (i.e. just after the official establishment of the State of Israel), titled Modern Hebrew. If I'm not mistaken, the authors were Harry Blumberg and Mordecai H. Lewittes, and it went through a

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1080720289977474832004-03-30T21:38:00.000+02:002004-04-16T17:00:33.360+03:00

More on uniforms Here in the local press we are often treated to photos of proud 'Hamas settlers, rallying at a funeral for one of their leaders, wearing a pseudo-guerilla costume that conceals their faces, save for crudely cut eye and mouth holes. This one, from 24 February 2004, struck me as different because it is fully white, rather than dark green or brown, and features mock

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1080593233077960012004-03-29T22:47:00.000+02:002004-03-31T10:12:24.106+02:00

It's warm today -- 28 degrees (82 F), which is a bit of a shock since the last couple of weeks have been, in a word, perfect. Homes have all their windows open, and people are in their t-shirts, because they are indoors doing spring cleaning. We're all at it, and have been since last week, because Pessa'h [Passover] is on it's way. And the z'man [study period] is over at the yeshiva. As of

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1079906952579806232004-03-21T22:09:00.000+02:002004-03-29T11:55:25.093+02:00

It's all black and white, right? I'm in a bit of a calm rage this evening, following one of the many debates with my 'hevroutha on the subject of... clothing. As is usually the case with this subject, there's more than meets the eye. There's a whole system of typologies, metameanings, signifiers, and signified. Un symbolisme, quoi. Not just a symbolism but a mythology -- a world of

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1079220364668169152004-03-12T11:31:00.000+02:002004-03-19T14:30:59.700+02:00

Toward the end of last year, Yoplait entered into what is probably the biggest industry in Israel, selling yoghurt. (The sunflower seed industry came in a close second.) According to statistics at the end of the previous fiscal year, the average Israeli eats a metric ton of yoghurt every week. And Yoplait wanted in on the action. I remember Yoplait entering the American market during my

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1078953079226368852004-03-10T23:33:00.000+02:002004-03-19T14:17:02.360+02:00

Some quotes about the holiday of Pourim tonight, since I am somewhat incapable of producing my own at the moment. "Poor Purim. It has become the Jewish mardi gras, a day of revelry, drinking, and masquerades. But it is much more than this.... Gradually we begin to understand the role of masks in the Purim story. The entire deliverance of the Jewish people is masked. It is a story wrapped in a

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1078609871063173142004-03-06T23:51:00.000+02:002004-03-19T14:07:54.106+02:00

Ah, the joy of shameless narcissism. In response to numerous reader e-mails that have not yet flooded in, I should at this point tell you who I am, as alluded to back on 15 February. I am a resident of Jerusalem (a.k.a. Yeroushalayim), the capital of Israel and the centre of the world. I am a student at a yeshiva which shall remain unnamed because I don't want to besmirch its reputation. (And

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1078434876703898882004-03-04T23:14:00.000+02:002004-03-05T04:30:30.966+02:00

Not much news this week, due in part to all the following: - My class is nearing the end of a sugiya (topic) in Gemara, and there's a test tomorrow - Preparation for Pourim, such as making gift baskets and trying to figure out how much of the holiday I will spend with the yeshiva, and how much of it with Israelis - I've been tweaking the Blog in hopes of inviting a bigger public - Unseasonably

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1078603040028741092004-03-01T21:43:00.000+02:002004-03-17T15:21:06.076+02:00

We're already on the 9th of the month of Adar, but it is not to late to mention something à propos. That ubiquitous song "Mishé nikhnas Adar marbim besim'ha" (or more accurately, "Mishé Mishé Mishé Mishé Mishé Mishé Mishé Mishé Mishé nikhnas Adar..."), which means "Since Adar has come in, we have more joy" (from the Gemara in Ta'anith) is often sung to the same tune as the American slave song,

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1078167867423375742004-02-27T14:47:00.000+02:002004-03-19T13:37:13.653+02:00

Happy snow day to Athens, and to the University of Georgia, which cancelled classes today! I can't say I wish I were there at this particular moment, but I do miss the place sorely. We'll take a deconstructive walk down nostalgia lane on another day. For now, suffice it to add a couple of links in the right-hand column: the independent student newspaper The Red & Black and the fiercely

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1078129998946314802004-02-22T22:32:00.000+02:002004-03-19T13:35:02.700+02:00

This morning, a bus on the 14A line was running its route between southwest Jerusalem and Har 'Homa by way of Talpiot, crowded with passengers. On this bus was a suicide bomber who decided that his life and that of at least eight others (the current toll) no longer deserved to continue. He was right on only one account. Sixty-some more were injured. I was running a tad late for yeshiva anyway

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1077713220178642862004-02-17T20:23:00.000+02:002004-03-19T13:15:32.903+02:00

I suppose the biggest news lately, besides the garbage strike, is the snow. This past Friday was a beautiful day in Jerusalem: bright sun, a few clouds set against blue skies, a perfect cool temperature (cool but not too cool), and a constant refreshing breeze. I had to go to the yeshiva that morning for a test on the sugiya [sub-chapter] of Gemara that we in my class just concluded. I had

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1077711748488821182004-02-16T19:30:00.000+02:002004-03-06T22:41:52.293+02:00

Some preliminary business first. You are witnessing the launch of version 2.0 of this selfsame blog at this selfsame address, which is a rewriting of the first version, mutatis mutandis. In plain English, this is the story. A few months ago I began publishing a Blog both about discovering Israel and about leaving behind my life in America. The story began properly in June, as that was the

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1077485228249226652004-02-15T18:13:00.000+02:002004-03-06T21:46:47.810+02:00

Where, oh where, dites-le-moi, je vous en prie, to begin my story? "Who I am" followed by "How I got myself into this situation" ? or vice-versa? No, definitely in that order. Although vice-versa would make more sense, in this antipodean blog-reading format. What do I mean by that? Blogger is an ingenious tool for web-journal hosting (note my duly-placed link in that sycophantic statement).

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077609.post-1077403915113436202004-02-15T00:50:00.000+02:002004-02-25T14:55:51.856+02:00

BS"D And so it begins. A hastily chosen title ("Marching to Zion: Michael's Jerusalem Journey"). A free template. Some useless, pre-fab links. No photos. Behold, ô combien rude, the birth of my BLOG. The title is so hokey that it's likely to change soon. So here it's on the record.

Pinḥas Ivrinoreply@blogger.com0