Today at the Holocaust Museum

I cannot begin to express my horror at what happened today at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

From the website of the USHMM:
There are no words to express our grief and shock over today’s events at the Museum, which took the life of Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns. Officer Johns, who died heroically in the line of duty, served on the Museum’s security staff for six years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Johns’s family. We have made the decision to close the Museum Thursday, June 11, in honor of Officer Johns and our flags will be flown at half mast in his memory.

 

May his memory be for a blessing.

"A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum stimulates leaders and citizens to confront hatred, prevent genocide, promote human dignity, and strengthen democracy."

May we continue to fight against hatred in the world. May the mission of the USHMM continue to be undeterred. 

Let us never forget.

Words of Mourning

I am beside myself about this.

From the NY Times article:
WICHITA, Kan. — George Tiller, one of only a few doctors in the nation who performed abortions late in pregnancy, was shot to death here Sunday in the foyer of his longtime church as he handed out the church bulletin.

I am sick at heart that this man who took over his family's medical practice after the deaths of his parents and sister and brother-in-law, who took responsibility for his then 1-year-old nephew, and who began to perform abortions because he learned that a woman had died from an illegal abortion...has now become a terrible victim of horrible violence.

May his legacy remind us that our freedoms must be constantly guarded and may his memory be for a blessing.

Let's Take it Real World...

Crossposted from my other blog.

I was talking with some folks (as I do constantly) about the matzav (situation) in Israel. I feel a bit obsessed, as I think many of my fellow Israel-lovers and bloggers do, with the news. I can't stop refreshing Muqata and IsraellyCool and I scroll through my tweets looking for the news.

There are so many misconceptions being played out in the mainstream media (MSM). I nearly have an aneurisum each morning as I read my newspaper and I definitely almost ripped the radio out of my car the other day as I heard Jerome McDonnell say "well, there have just been a few rockets sent into Israel, right? and no one's really been hurt by it, right?" as he interviewed an Israeli journalist. (Who responded, wonderfully, by saying "That's like having the doctor say - your 14year old is pregnant but the good news is that she's only a little bit pregnant. There is no such thing as good rocket fire.")

I really believe that I am getting a balanced view. I'm sure there are those who would disagree with me, who would say that all my sources are Israeli in origin so I'm bound to get a biased view of the operation from that perspective. And I suppose that would be true. But I do believe that the MSM seems so biased against Israel, and since I continue (oddly enough) to read newspapers and MSM websites, I feel that I'm getting a pretty good sense of what might be the "Real Story."

(Picture from Reuters.com - of Israelis sheltering from a Qassam missile.)

The thing that bothered me the most this week, however, was the very well-intentioned person who listened to me refute information about the UN "school" that was bombed. (When we think of school, I'm pretty sure you all have the same idea in your head that I do - kids running around, books, desks, teachers, papers, pencils and erasers....but this is not that kind of school. So I feel that it puts the wrong idea into people's heads right off the bat. But I digress...)

Back to the well-intentioned person. She asked in a not-snottty, totally honest and well-intentioned way: "How are those of us who are not as informed supposed to know all of this?"

And I know that she is not an internet user, beyond the email and other tasks in the office. I know that if I asked her to regularly visit Muqata or even Haaretz.com she would not really be able to do it. So truthfully, I was a bit stumped and didn't quite know how to asnwer her except to say that I could provide her with a list of sources for her to look at.

But she probably won't.

She'll probably continue, in her kind and well-intentioned and well-informed way, to read the newspapers and watch the 6 o'clock news (which I haven't watched in years...it's still on, right?). And she'll believe, like so many Americans and Europeans do, that the nicely coiffed men and women sitting so officially behind those shiny desks or standing in front of those pretty flat-panel monitors are telling The Truth and reporting The Facts.

When we know they're not always.

So I offer this challenge to you, my dear readers. I am always asking you to blog or tweet or comment or visit. But today's challenge is a little different.

I'm asking you to pick one site or post or picture that you feel is representative of The Truth -- not the stuff being thrown around by the MSM but the stuff that you find to be Real and Right. Start, perhaps, with one of Jack's round ups or one of Jameel's liveblogs, or even just the count from your QassamCount status update.

Print it out. 
(I know, I know, I'm supposed to be all green, but bear with me.)

And share it with the people that you care about most, the people that you think will not be reading it, the people that you think might look at you when you suggest that they log into TwiddleEast as though you're suggesting they jump through the Looking Glass. Share the paper with your co-workers, your friends, your grandmother.

We're all working so hard out here on the Internet. I think the time has come to move beyond that and back out into the Real World, Old School...

Are you with me?

Sadness...

Our thoughts are with the students and families of Mercaz haRav Yeshiva.

May the memory of these students be for a blessing...

Read more here (note graphic photos, though)

My heart bleeds...

File under: Probably NOT good for the Jews

Um...why do I think this is going to end badly?

What do you think?

It's Here! It's Here!

Each year the New York Times has a special section entitled "Giving" -- a whole section of the newspaper devoted to tzedakah. Does it get any better than this?

Here are some of the highlights (or things that I thought were interesting) in this year's Giving Section. (See the whole section at nytimes.com or go buy one today!)

My Network, My Cause - my current favorite obsession, Facebook, has got a giving component. Is it working?

Making a Difference From an Early Age - teaching children to be givers

Giving Away Money, Getting an Education - teaching young people to be philanthropists

Attention Shoppers: Philanthropy in Aisle 5 - what's up with all the charitable purchasing? Good? Bad?

Beyond the Gift of Cold, Hard Cash - giving of your time or assets

In the Fund-raising Game, Blogs Cut Both Ways - the power of blogging in terms of charitable giving

A Big Salary with a Big Stipulation: Share it - One company's requirement that their executives give 4% of their salary to charity


Here are some Gifts of Giving ideas, from my other blog.