My New Tisha b'Av Video: Rectifying the Sin of Spies

H1N1: My Totally Freaky Biblical Sick-Day Revelation

Last week I got sick. Nothing exciting - just a decent fever, exhaustion, and a pretty sore throat.

But with all the craziness over Swine Flu, and my propensity for Ashekanzi-style worry and out-of-proportion-blowing, I started to wonder - did I recently have any contact with anyone who had recently been in Mexico? Could I have *gulp* SWINE FLU?!? Aaaaaaaaah!!!

After a few minutes of talking myself into the plague-like illness, I came to grips with the likely reality - I didn't have swine flu.

I lay there for a while, in between hot flashes and chills, thinking about this crazy sickness which has consumed the world with concern, tortured summer camps and expectant mothers, and scared a whole lot of people out of plane tickets this year.

H1N1 Swine Flu Virus. Yishai ruffled some feathers by suggesting that the Pope's anti-Israel Israel visit might be accountable for this terrible illness rising from a Catholic country (Google search: Pig in a Pope).

Yet lying on my sickbed, Hashem allowed me to decode the real impetus behind this virus. When I realized Hashem's message, and how well it fit into the concept of a plague, I got chills which were not due to my fever.

Sitting down?

H1N1: Hashem is 1, and his Name is 1.

Scary, huh?

Born in the USA, Making Aliyah Today

How Returning a Can of Tuna Made Me Realize I'm Rocking the Hebrew

Recently, I borrowed a can of tuna (fascinating, I know).

Because my neighbor is a native English-speaker, my request for tuna went something like this: "Hey - can I borrow a can of tuna?"

A couple days later, I went to the local grocery to buy a replacement. As I walked out with my can of tuna, I suddenly imagined myself borrowing a can of tuna from a Hebrew speaking neighbor, and wondered how to say it correctly.

Chavilat tuna? No, it's not really a package. Kufsah? Nope, that's more of a box. Bakbuk? No. Cancan - not exactly, that's more like a Diet Coke. Then I caught it - Pach. It's a pach of tuna!

After nailing the right word, I suddenly realized - look how many words I know for packaging! I AM THE BEST HEBREW SPEAKER IN THE WORLD!!!

Okay, maybe not. But little victories are what it's all about in the quest to Israelify. Feelin' good.

A Message from Rabbi Tendler On the 17th of Tammuz