Double Weekly Review for Shabbat New (Secular) Year

On My Blog

Photo Memes:
– Murakami in Versailles for SOOC
– Frescoes from Villa Boscoreale for Ruby Tuesday

A Note of Sympathy

Carrot Soup with Coconut Cream

Short for Time

Yearly Review: Selected Posts of 2010

Hush: a Short Book Review

Elsewhere in the JBlogosphere

Leora’s own review : Review with 2010 Favorites from Various Blogs

Kol oto halaylah, a post about time zones in Israel

Moroccan Beef Tajine, on Mimi’s blog

Hadassah blogs about parents and homework

Western Ethical Norms and Halacha by R. Yosef Kanefsky

Five Hours from Paris, this is not recent post but since I watched the film yesterday I thought I’d post a review

A Common Place, this is not a post but a blog I discovered a few days ago

Shabbat Shalom!

Hush: a Short Book Review

 

Hush by Eishes Chayil is a novel for young adults about sexual abuse in the Hassidic community of Boro Park. The story is told from the point of view of Gittel who – as a child – witnessed her best friend being abused. The narrative goes back and forth between the child-Gittel and the teenager who is about to get married.

This novel is quite subtle in that it is not a downright criticism of ultra-Orthodox Judaism but of the cover-up of such stories. Thus the guilty brother is sent to Israel and the narrator is prevented from testifying by her own mother. The narrator’s father is a complex character who obviously loves his daughter but fails to help her when she most needs it.

It is a powerful novel and one which stays with you for a long time after you have read the last page.

More thorough reviews:
– Rabbi Fink’s review
– Velveteen Rabbi’s review

A very poignant post: A Note From a Victim of Abuse

Yearly Review: Selected Posts of 2010

It is this time of the secular year again, when people ponder on what they have done (or not) or, in my case, on what I have written. Selecting one post for each month was sometimes a bit hard; there were times when I could have chosen two or three and months for which finding a decent post that was neither a recipe nor a photo was quite hard.

January: Jews in Postwar East Germany

February: Kosher Products in HK

March: Poor Teacher: Surviving Panic

April: Parshat Acharei Mot – Kedoshim

May: Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran

June: Organ Donation

July: Commemorating the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup

August: Jewish History in Hamburg – part I and part II

September: Training a Trainee

October: And They Shall Be My People

November: Mitzvah Girls

December: Sign Language for Babies

My interviews of 2010

Frescoes from Villa Boscoreale

The villa of P. Fannius Synistor in Boscoreale was built and decorated shortly after mid-first century BC. The quality of its frescoes seems to have preserved them from changes in fashion, before the villa was entombed in the Vesuvius eruption. It was uncovered around 1900 and produced upon excavation many frescoes and paintings which be seen in several museums across the world. The frescoes above are exhibited in Amiens.

On Tuesdays, just post any photo you like (it must be one of your own) that contains the color RED and then link to this blog.

This lovely badge was created by Leora from Here in HP.

Short for Time

I have been busy this week: trying to get some rest after a full school term, entertaining my nephew and driving on both snow and ice – among other things – I have therefore too little time for my weekly review but hope to do a more thorough round up next week.

Let me just point out these two very different articles:
– The Arduous Community by David Brooks
– People of the E-Book? Observant Jews Struggle With Sabbath in a Digital Age by Uri Friedman

Shabbat Shalom!

Carrot Soup with Coconut Cream

Ingredients: (serves 4 people)
1 onion
1 lb carrots, thinly sliced
2 cups vegetable broth
1 organic orange
200 ml coconut cream, kara is kosher
chopped cilantro or chives
Salt & pepper to taste

Sauté the onion in a little olive oil. Add the carrots and stir regularly for 5 minutes. Add the broth, cover the pan and cook gently for 25 minutes or until the carrots are tender.
Add the juice and zest (optional) of the orange. Stir in the coconut cream.

Use a hand-held immersion blender to puree the soup into a smooth consistancy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour into serving bowls, drizzle with a little coconut cream and add chopped cilantro or chives.

Other carrot soups on this blog:
– Comforting Carrot Soup
– Carrot and Cilantro Soup

A Note of Sympathy

Having my nephew to stay for a couple of days before he takes the train back home, I sympathize with all my blogging friends who need to reconcile work, children and their presence online.

Adrien is a chatty 12-year-old who needs a lot of attention and after all he is not staying with us to spend his life on the computer. We had previously envisaged driving to Belgium where he has never been (he lives in the West of France) but the weather conditions have made this too hazardous. Driving to my parents’ in the snow on Sunday and driving back on ice yesterday has proved enough for my nervous system, not to mention safety. We are planning a trip to the movie instead. Hope I am young enough at heart to enjoy the third episode of The Chronicles of Narnia.

Murakami in Versailles

Since September 2010 Murakami has exhibited some of his works at the Palace of Versailles. This is the Oval Buddha Gold and is the only one which can be seen in the gardens. The statue is 5 meters high.

For more shots Straight Out of the Camera:

Weekly Review Under New Header

On My Blog

Photo Memes:
– Versailles – Early December for SOOC
– Street Flowers for Ruby Tuesday

Sign Language for Babies

Jewish Books

Rosh Chodesh

Elsewhere in the JBlogosphere

Chief Rabbi speaks on campus extremism, an article about Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and antisemitism on British campuses

Sharing a short part of a long journey, a moving post by Treppenwitz

Haddassah asks: Is it just my kids?

Familiar Catchphrases, Mrs.S. shares some family phrases

Leora shares Shamash, Nibbles and On the Blog, don’t forget to read the comments

Shabbat Shalom!

Rosh Chodesh

This is not a reference to the Jewish calendar but a new feature on my blog: the custom blog header Leora Wenger made for me. It seems to fit my blog like a glove and reflects the things and places that are dear to me.

Thank you Leora for your patience in trying to humor my whims and accomodate my wishes. But above all thank you for the great result.