Amazing

Some day, when we're sitting around sipping iced tea and sharing an avocado and arugula sandwich, remind me to tell you about the time a bus full of Hasids fresh from the Ukraine picked me up in the middle of the night at exactly the right time on exactly the right night after Rosh Hashanah, when all was wild and new and bursting with the spark of future growth.

I Am an Israeli Woman

In a very unceremonious hand-off of documentation today, I officially became a citizen of the State of Israel. There was no fanfare, no balloons, no speeches, but nonetheless, it's official. I am a dual-citizen.

And I am a woman. Take a look at the lower right side of my Teudat Zehut (Identity Card). The second word from the bottom says n'kevah (spelled nun-kuf-bet-heh), which means "female." Whoops. I plan on using this new status to enter as many synagogues as I can through the backdoor, to hug religious girls, and to wear skirts in public.

Also of interest is a comparison of my US Passport photo and my Israeli ID photo, with a time differential of about 8 years. Youch.

And, for fun, this picture was taken in the Yeshiva Beit Midrash (study hall) using the camera built into Eitan Levy's new MacBook computer. Eitan's the guy in the middle. Aaron on the left is the guy whose stomach problems gave us a fun night at the Hadassah emergency room a few weeks back, the day I got to see the famous Chagall windows.


This is the last post before Rosh Hashanah-- I haven't been feeling so inspiring (or inspired) lately, so I will keep it simple-- have a wonderful new year, may you all be inscribed for Blessing in the Book of Life, for a year of joy, love, productivity and communion.

Shana Tova.

Be well.

More food for horrified imaginative excursions from the US Military

Read this fun piece about a potential gang war in the Army. This would make a great comic book series or HBO Drama or theme album by Johnny Cash and Radiohead, but will probably end up as a movie with Nick Cage.

My favorite bit:

The executive director of the National Major Gangs Task Force, Edward Cohn, said those numbers do not come as a shock. "People are initially surprised that there are gangs in the military, but really it shouldn't be a surprise," he said. "For somebody to believe there are no gangs in the military would be very naive."

Mr. Cohn also said some gang members refine their techniques in the Army. "There is a sophistication there," he said.

Reminds me of that scene from Spinal Tap with Martin Short. Not that I can remember the scene, but it reminds me of that. Check the comments, Erik will be along soon to quote the scene for me.

Also new and fun in the US Military are White Supremacists, some of whom are using the valuable training paid for by YOUR TAX MONEY to prepare for some down home ethnic cleansing back Stateside.

Ugh-- I had a great picture of the adorable White Supremacist Pop-Rock duo Prussian Blue, but the images aren't loading onto the blog. But they sure are cute. Click for more White fun here and see the picture, and unlock a whole new world of white power. Not surprisingly, last year's big event went down in Florida. I used to think, back in the old days, that Florida, with its safe, race-blending mix of Cubans, Haitians and Jews, was a haven of good ol' American muttry. Heh. Guess not.

Jesus save us.

the fire.

Lukas, who is a cousin of Craig's, and an initiate into Native American ritual, asked me a question, which is to be found as the sole comment to the previous post. Sometime soon he will sit with his brothers and sisters around the sacred fire, eat the medicine and seek communion with the One Who Is, Was and Will Be, and with the ancient wise grandfathers who walked the paths of life before him.

Here's part of my answer to him:

-fire.
fire
fire in my soul.
a focused, burning, clarifying fire that would sear away all the years of stagnation and calcification that has clogged the machine.
fire in my soul that drives my mind and body to strive eagerly for perfection, holiness, strength.

or

a simple joy.
a simple joy that simmers at the bottom of my soul like a sweet autumn potpourri, fragrant and warm in any situation.

or

a journey.
a trip back to 1979 to meet a little five-year old sitting in his room and playing quietly, probably already overwhelmed with thoughts and notions of being different, already a little freaked out by his dad, sitting on the floor and creating worlds of escape and adventure on his floor. i would go back and watch that little guy play, then give him a big hug, shed a few tears with him, and give him something, some sort an amulet to let him know how much the world is waiting for him, how excited we are for him to grow up and to be happy, happy little Shimshon Stuart Bennett Siegel, international superstar.

Aho.

some words to feed your hunger

man.
it's been a week since i posted.
man.

this is a short update, because i don't want to let you all down....

it's been a hard week, as far as learning goes. The learning day goes from 8:45 am - 7:15 pm, 10.5 hours, with 2 hours in the middle for praying and lunch. Out of the 8.5 hours of learning time, 3.5 are the morning Gemara (Talmud) period, which includes lessons with Rav Natan (shiurim) and studying with a partner (chevruta learning).

My connection to the Gemara has been crap this week. For various reasons. But crap, that's the point. And, in my way, I spin off of the catalyst of crappy learning (which manifests as my mind refusing to budge another inch on a difficult passage) and plummet into a general grouchiness/despair/rage, which usually results in a nap. Like a 4-year old gets a nap after a good tantrum.

Huh.

In other news, I gave my passport to the woman from the Ministry of the Interior. When I get it back, it will have a new visa in it, the visa of a NEW IMMIGRANT. Exciting.

BUY ME!!!!!!!

I am trying to sell my car.
It lives in Atlanta.

2001 Mitsubishi Mirage DE 2-Door Coupe (almost typed "soup"-- aw hell, if you buy the car, I will buy you a can of hot soup! Hot in the can even!)

It's a sportyish little stick shift thing, comfy, fun to drive, good mileage, etc etc

$4037.72 (plus 627 Romanian Lei for fees, approx 9 cents US)

if you know ANYONE interested, let them and me know!!!!!!

thanks.
____

I just noticed that i say "...Heh" a lot recently. Is that bad? Is it annoying? Is it a sign of my increasing cynicism? Arrogance? Emotional remove from the world? Should I be worried? Or is it just a little trademark of that indomitable WanderingStu style? Did I spell that correctly? ...heh.

____

Yesterday we had a meeting with all the guys who are starting the Smicha program here at the Yeshiva. Smicha means "becoming a Rabbi." Samuch means "leaning, resting, relying on." Smicha refers to the ancient ceremony, as seen in such famous books as The Bible, in which authority is transmitted to the next generation by the elder laying his hands on the head of the new leader. It also suggests that the Rabbi now gives his support to the young initiate, or possibly that the tradition in the elder Rabbi's hands is not resting on the new Rabbi, who will carry it into the future.

In our meeting yesterday, no one touched anyone. We just discussed a few details about the next 4-5 years. It's an exciting time in the Yeshiva. We haven't had a large group of guys working on becoming Rabbis together, as a group, in a while. Right now there are 7 or 8 guys, with at least one more coming in February. Auspicious beginnings.

By my car.

Siegel Family Hits the Internet

Me and Val became the most famous people in the world last week, at least for a minute, when we both appeared in various places on the Internet.

Valerie is Reform Judaism's Youth Worker of the Month.

They call her a WOMAN, they say she's DEDICATED, they call her UNIQUE-- all pretty good, if you ask me.
She's doing a great job out there in Atlanta. Maybe we should work out a program whereby she sends her Youth Group kids to Bat Ayin for the WanderingStu Jew Makeover... heh

As for me, they call me a traitor, a lefty, a non-Jew, a threat... Heh.
For more on that, look up "Shimshon Siegel" or "Acharei Hamilchama"
or click some of these and be sure to read the comments section as well.
CLICK HERE!
NO! Click ME! I appeared on ABC news and Yahoo! as well!
Click here! I have the most comments from angry right-wing Jews

Great weekend activity ideas from the US Military

Hey kids!
Summer's over, but the good times keep going in the Fall! As the world careens towards global war, some of our boys (and girls) in Iraq are keepin' it light by always remembering to have a good time.

And now you can too!

If are looking for something unique to spice up your weekend get-togethers with family or friends, the US Military's new GUIDE TO ALL-AMERICAN FUN offers some excellent suggestions:

...forced nakedness, hooding and other procedures that have become infamous during the five-year-old war on terror. ...beating prisoners, sexually humiliating them, threatening them with dogs, depriving them of food or water, performing mock executions, shocking them with electricity, burning them, causing other pain and a technique called “water boarding” that simulates drowning, said Lt. Gen. John Kimmons, Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence.

Talk about a Barbecue Get-Together to remember!

For more on this exciting new publication, click with pleasure here.

it's on me...

I love it! The first debate on wanderingstu!!
You know, other people's blogs, like Eliezer Israel's Wilderness City (see link on the right), have these intense debates with 20 or more comments on a single post. But he's talking about the legitimacy of homosexuality in a religious context, and I'm talking about my own debt. So.

I have comments on the comments on the previous post, but for now, this clever appeal:

I am coming home in January/February for the wedding of Jason Rogers and Sarah Kravitz. If I accumulate another 40,000 skymiles by then, i can come for free! I accumulate miles by swiping my Skymiles American Express card. So, if you have any major purchases to make, and if I trust you (ahem)-

Don't Leave Home Without Me.

serious.
it's a plan. it could work. keep me in mind
___
in other news, i am planning a bit of an upgrade to the content of the blog here-- gonna try to post regularly, and with more info about my actual life here, not just my tangentials. Stay tuned....

they have important things to blog

debriefing the war, the coming attack on iran, hurricanes in the gulf, elections, murders, cancer.....

me?

I just fully accepted the fact that I am ONE-HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS in debt,
with little chance of ANY INCOME for the next 4 or 5 years.

it seemed so easy, just to think, "hell, i'm living in new york, i'm in school, i have expenses... what can i do?
in a few years i will have a sweet job as a Reform Rabbi, and I'll get that debt paid off right quick."

heh.

we are doing a Spiritual Growth workshop on fear-- regaining a healthy sense of the Fear of Heaven (or the Awe of God, if you like). Our textual model is the Israelites standing at the sea before it split, having no sense at all of where they are going, or how they will survive.

You just gotta look at that sea, see its turbulent waters, and jump.