(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
May 28, 2020
May 27, 2020
The Nail That Stands Out
It gets hammered down!
Deviation from the norm or the groupthink is met with a resounding klop on the head.
You conform or you face the guillotine.
Way too dystopian.
Freedom, individuality, diversity, self-expression—these are the engines of innovation and growth.
If every nail gets hammered down, you have a society that implodes with inbreeders and Stone Age stale ideas.
Tradition is one thing, a closed mind is something that is an extinction level event. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 25, 2020
May 24, 2020
Great Veggie Heaven
My sister took us there a couple of years ago.
Hopefully, I didn't forgot to say thank you.
Never forget the yummy food there (and of course, the good family company).
Good descriptive name and eats at Veggie Heaven! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 23, 2020
The 11th Commandment
How many times do I hear about fellow Jews trying to "out-frum" (i.e. be holier than thou) other Jews: whether it's in terms of Kashrut, Shabbat or even who stayed up the latest for the Passover Seder. Recently, when it came to coronavirus, I was more than a little shocked to read that someone actually attributed the disease to it being a punishment from G-d because women's skirts are not being worn long enough. While certainly it's good to be introspective and there is a strong concept of reward and punishment in Judaism, there is something about us Jews where we tend to want to go a little more and a little farther. In some cases, we are doing "hiddur mitzvah" (beautification of the Mitzvah) which is praiseworthy, but in other cases, we may be adding unnecessary "chumras" (i.e. stringencies) than can backfire religiously. My unequivocal preference is to follow my father's teaching to me of the Rambam's "Shvil Ha'zahav" (i.e. the golden path) and not go too far to the left or to the right, but keep a healthy middle of the road approach to life.
In the end, the number of commandments are what they are, and with 613 throughout the Torah, there is enough to keep us all busy going what is right with G-d and our fellow man. While we may like to overachieve in our careers, our education, and our pedigrees, it is not necessary to try to outdo each other religiously. Religion is a matter between us and Hashem and G-d knows what is in our hearts and counts up all our deeds according to His holy Torah with nothing added and nothing subtracted.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 22, 2020
Shopping Up A Pole
Shopping cart up a pole.
No one else up there.
Safe from Coronavirus, hopefully.
Maybe some illusive toilet paper to be found in the sky mall?
Desperate times calling for desperate measures or an anxious society is losing its mind. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 21, 2020
Great Chair and Ottoman
May 20, 2020
The Times of Mashiach
Someone contacted me with a friend request on Facebook, and his profile included that he is a:
Torah-Observant Gentile
Wow!
It's truly like we say in the Aleinu prayer every day:
All Mankind shall invoke Your Name, to turn to You all the wicked of the earth. They will recognize and know--all the inhabitants of the world---that every knee should bend to You...The L-rd will be King over the entire earth; on that day the L-rd will be One and His Name One.We are on the way and I hope we all get to see and cross over the finish line soon. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 19, 2020
Bowl Set Adorable
May 18, 2020
Keep The F*** Away From Me
Shaking hands is a no-no!
Even in the park yesterday, they had a sign prominently displayed that read:
Thank you for practicing social distancing. Please stay 6 FT apart.
We might as well all just wear t-shirts or little reminder signs on each of us with:
Keep the F*** away from me!
That about sums it up without putting up a specific distance range. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 17, 2020
Singing Frankie The Fish
May 16, 2020
Iran's Fateful Mistake
With horrible reports coming out that Iran has torched the holy tombs of Mordecai and Esther, this is a new despicable low even for Iran’s evil leadership. As we all know, Mordecai and Queen Esther are the heroes of Purim who with Hashem’s help saved the Jewish people from the evil decree of Haman to utterly destroy the Jews of Persia. Now, the Iranians (Persians) have cast their evil lots once again by setting ablaze these tombs in Hamadan, Iran, and desecrating this site that is holy to Jews around the world. My mother’s Hebrew name was Esther and I am outraged at this vile act against the graves of our holy ancestors, as we all should be.
Let’s hope and pray that soon the Iranian people will realize their aspirations for freedom and that the tyranny that they live under will soon come to another miraculous ending under the watchful eyes of our holy ancestors, Mordecai and Esther.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 15, 2020
Shabbat Shalom From Mr. Gefilte Fish
May 14, 2020
My Merkava
May 12, 2020
Anger, Faith, and Growth
We live in an unpredictable world and I have made more than one bad decision recently. Fortunately, it was nothing too terrible, but I was still angry about it, and my gut reaction was to somehow blame G-d, and to feel angry at Him, because I thought somehow I didn't deserve what had happened. However, I asked myself how can you be angry at G-d if you believe that everything he does is for your ultimate good? It took me a little time, but I realized that I wasn't really angry at G-d, but at myself; It was my fault, I did deserve what happened, and my mistakes aren't G-d's.
Maybe this is what life is really all about--searching and finding G-d even among all the multitude of mistakes we make in life. We have to own our mistakes, learn from them, and thereby become stronger and better people.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 11, 2020
Stock Market Pinocchio Style
Look folks, Pinocchio's nose is getting longer by the minute.
The market continues on a tear, even while the economy is heading in the other direction.
I know people have been conditioned to buy on the dips, but I'm not sure that applies while we're in the middle (or maybe still just in the beginning) of a pandemic that has claimed 286,000 lives in just over 2 months (and that's with a global shutdown)!
Somehow, there is a notion that when things start to reopen that all the problems will just magically go away, including the $3 trillion we just added to our national debt, all the bankruptcies being declared, and all the job losses that are becoming permanent.
If you believe this, perhaps you'd like to buy the Brooklyn Bridge.
The greater fool theory is alive and well. ;-)
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
May 10, 2020
Happy Mother's Day
Even though it's been 6 years since you passed over to Heaven, I can still see you here with me today.
The love and caring you showed for me, my sister, and Dad as well as the grandchildren filled all of our lives.
You always worked hard for the family and to do your best.
Life was not always easy especially coming with your parents from the Holocaust.
Yet, I never doubted for a moment that our family was the world for you.
And both you and Dad still mean the world to me and I know you both are with me always.
I can feel it!
Happy Mother's Day--we love you! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 9, 2020
Am Yisrael Chai!
I love the Merkava IV, Israel's main battle tank.
The shape, the versatility, the power!
Complete fighting awesomeness.
The new "Merkava IV Barak" (scheduled for deployment in 2021) will even have artificial intelligence (AI) for advanced battle management systems.
I wish we had the Merkava during the Holocaust and could've given the Nazi bastards what they rightfully deserved.
Never again! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 7, 2020
The Coronavirus Stock Market
As they say:
Don't count your chicken before they hatch.
This market has gotten way ahead of itself and the pending economic realities of the Coronavirus and the consequences of the trillions of response fund debt.
Remember:
- The virus does not yet have a vaccine, and it is mutating and may become even more virulent!
- The deaths continue to soar in the U.S. with now over 75,000 dead in just two months.
- The deaths involve much pain and suffering both for the victim and his/her grieving loved ones.
- The unemployment is at all time highs since the Great Depression.
- Companies are starting to move from temporary layoffs to permanent firings and contraction, and many eventually to bankruptcy.
- Profitability and gross domestic product are way down and may be even worse in the next quarter.
- Price Earning ratios are around their 10-year highs even looking out toward a possible 2021 recovery.
- Restarting the economy does not mean a return to what was as the extreme trauma from the pandemic, shutdown, and social distancing rebalance us to a "new normal."
- A second and third wave of Coronavirus may be as bad or even worse than the first.
- The two biggest global economies of the U.S. and China are facing a deteriorating and toxic relationship.
- The lingering $3,000,000,000,000 that we just added to our National Debt is going to increasingly strangle our future economic outlook.
- The election is in November and brings increasing instability and likely volatility.
In summary, the term used by former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan of "irrational exuberance" seems like a gross understatement when it comes to our current stock market.
Get ready to see the froth come painfully off this drunken market--these eggs are about ready to crack. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 6, 2020
Lockdown In Coronavirus
You're stuck inside, but still have to keep everything moving anyway!
As we enter the next phase with people itching to go back out and "restart" life and the economy and the second wave where more people unfortunately get sick, we are really as they say:
Stuck between a rock and a hard place.
And that's where bad things can happen (G-d forbid) and it's never a good place to be. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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