Thank you for your ongoing support of both We Said Go Travel and me! I was so honored to share about Napa Valley for KTLA TV in Los Angeles. Did you see my segment? CLICK HERE to watch it now!
Want to know more about my Napa Segment? I wrote two articles about it:
In November, I went to my third Travel Classics Journalism conference. Thank you to Maren, Cathy, Visit Tucson and everyone who created this a fantastic experience. Thank you to all the editors and writers who were there to share their experiences and wisdom!
After Travel Classics Tucson, I learned to be a CowGirl at my very first DUDE RANCH! I absolutely loved my time at Tanque Verde Dude Ranch. I cannot wait to share the video with you when it is ready. I took several lessons and I rode up to Cowboy Lookout twice! WOW!
WHERE CAN YOU FIND MY 759 TRAVEL VIDEOS?
Here are links to my video channels on YouTube, Amazon Fire Tv, and Roku Player. I hope you enjoy my “This is What it is Like” Episodes! I now have 759 videos, 659,587 views, 1497 subscribers on YouTube AND my total video views across all platforms is now over 1,450,000+ (1.4M)! ! Thank you for your support and I cannot wait to get to 1.5 Million views!
Thank you to everyone who has participated in our We Said Go Travel Competitions! Find the winners for the 2017 Inspiration Award here. The entries from the 2017 Summer Independence Award have been published and the winners have been announced. We hope you will participate in our 2018 Writing Awards.
TRAVEL PHOTO AWARD:
Our first ever Travel Photo Award is now closed! Thank you to our judges, Gary Arndt from Everything Everywhere and Jeana from Surf and Sunshine. We hope you will submit a photo in our next award. We will begin sharing the entries soon.
Want to make your own video? Use code WESAIDGO10 for 10% on your project. Lisa loves working with EpicMakers and they were a sponsor for our first Travel Photo Award.
My fortune cookies said “Good Fortune Lies Ahead.” and “You know what you want–Get to work to make it materialize.“ I hope that this time with family for Thanksgiving brought you rest, relaxation and renewed perspective to know the steps to make your dreams come true!
Nahal Toosi talks to diplomats about how Rex Tillerson has been losing his clout on the world stage:
And, through a combination of slowness at the White House and by Tillerson, numerous leadership slots at the State Department remain unfilled, while policy decisions are increasingly made by a handful of aides to the secretary who often freeze out career diplomats with years of expertise. Meanwhile, foreign diplomats privately concede that, under Trump, they often turn to the White House first before engaging with the State Department.
The way things are right now, “I’m not sure if State could be taken less seriously,” one State Department official said.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson might not have his job for much longer, but his tenure may well be regarded as the most consequential in postwar American history: not for what he built but for what he destroyed.
The Left hasn’t forgotten what it means to be Jewish, but it has forgotten what it means to win elections. In Israel, you win elections with the help of security, not with the help of God.
There were two candidates for prime minister in the last elections. One is married to his third wife, his second wife was a gentile who underwent a Reform conversion, he confessed on live television that he had cheated on his current wife, he doesn’t observe Shabbat and he eats seafood in non-kosher restaurants. The other candidate is the grandson of Israel’s first chief rabbi, he observes Shabbat, he goes to synagogue every Saturday, he leads a remarkable Jewish family life and he only eats kosher food. Well, who won?
The first annual conference of the ultra-Orthodox faction of the Labor Party took place on Nov. 26. While people mostly associate the ultra-Orthodox with the Israeli right, it might come as a surprise that the Labor Party has an ultra-Orthodox faction. This unusual combination has been possible because of the growing integration of the ultra-Orthodox in Israeli society overall. Other parties have witnessed this same trend. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the Likud’s chairman, expects to win at least two seats in the coming election from voters who once would have cast their ballots for the ultra-Orthodox Yahadut HaTorah or Shas Party.
Saudi Arabia lacks a written penal code. So a judge can convict a person of a host of non-crimes like “witchcraft” or “sorcery,” or lash a blogger and imprison him for 10 years for “insulting Islam.”
Saudi elites had long been immune to the worst failures of this brutal system. Their wealth and freedom to travel — sometimes by virtue of a handy second passport from a Western country — allowed them to flee the social, political and religious confines of their Riyadh homes. Now they know that no one is really safe when there are no laws or institutions to protect you.
It is safe to assume Israel will likely seek to send additional messages in the form of attacks in order to cause Assad to reconsider his open-door policy with Iran. With this, the potential for an escalation with Syria, Hezbollah and their allies will only continue to grow.
“In the past, whenever there were fights about conversion and issues like that, it was always seen as an attack on Reform or Conservative Jews,” he says. “This time, it is being seen as an attack on all of Diaspora Jewry, and that’s what makes it unprecedented.”
So says Shlomo Fischer, a professor of sociology in the School of Education at Hebrew University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Fischer wrote an article for The Jewish People Policy Institute’s Annual Assessment of 2017, arguing that Orthodox Jews have started to see their place in American society in a way that’s fundamentally at odds with their more liberal co-religionists.
“The notion that America is a Christian country scares most Jews,” Fischer said. “Not the Orthodox.”
For almost a week now, it’s been my turn to oversee my father’s care. I have been at his side, liaising with physicians and nurses in order to bring his pain under control, reassuring him that he is not a burden, assisting him to eat whatever he is able to eat, helping him with personal care and engaging in conversations around what his life will look like now, post-fall. Each time I leave his room, I kiss him gently on the cheek and tell him that we love him.
My father, who began his ninth decade of life with a birthday admission to the Emergency Room, does not experience cognitive deficits. He continues to be clear-minded and resolute about his end of life decisions. What is less clear for him—and for his children—is how, exactly, we will navigate the narrowing straits in which we now paddle: how we can reach the best possible balance between how he wants to live with the living arrangements that are now possible for him. The only certainty is that we recognize and are adjusting to the reality that a limit has been reached and that he is no longer able to live independently.
This life-changing time is different from, yet similar to, bereavement. It is a transitional time, a time that will require adaptability and sensitivity to many adjustments and ongoing changes from now until the end of my father’s life. Like so many of the families that I serve as a hospital chaplain, my family, too, now inhabits this liminal place of anticipatory grief—a grief that is no less real than bereavement and which comes from knowing that we are grieving not just what was and what now is but also what we know lies ahead.
With every injury and illness and every experience of recovery, we are reminded that our bodies are complex physical embodiments of fragility and resilience. Aging teaches us that our bodies are not well suited to long lives; our bodies are created to break down, to disintegrate into elements. As I witness the many complications that have resulted from his fall, I think, ruefully, of how my father’s physical experience of growing old is not that of Moses, who, we are told, died at age 120, with eyes “undimmed and vigor unabated” (Deuteronomy 34:7-8). My father’s aging is following a more common physical pattern: slow, incremental losses and then a precipitating, life-and-circumstance-changing event.
But as we spend these long days together and I continue to learn from my father, I’ve also been thinking that the Torah’s description of Moses’ clear vision and intense energy might not in fact refer to Moses’ physical body, but rather to his spiritual condition. Perhaps what the Torah is really telling us is that Moses’ many years of being in deep relationship with the Divine both sustained him through the disappointments and difficulties during his life and also supported him in old age, right up to the moment when he died “al pi Adonai” (“by the mouth of God”), which the midrash interprets as a loving, gentle kiss—the original “Kiss of Death.”
Like many of the elderly patients I’ve served in chaplaincy, my father is striving to cooperate with and accomplish everything that occupational therapists, physical therapists, nurses and aides ask of him. He is apologetic when he cannot. He is unfailingly polite, expressing thanks to everyone who cares for him, appreciative of the smallest things. Because he is a man of deep faith, he has shared with me how he is actively praying for Divine guidance in coming to acceptance of his new reality and in making decisions even as he is grieving his loss of independence and trying hard to recover sufficiently to transition to the next stage of his life, should he survive. He is aware that the combination of his pre-existing conditions and these recent injuries mean that he will never be as he was just weeks ago and that he may not live much longer. He is engaging in life review and sharing thoughts, reminiscences and instructions.
As my siblings, my father and I progress through this liminal, sacred time, the self-care practices that are sustaining me include meditation and chanting. These breath practices are important to keeping my spiritual and emotional balance. They keep me from becoming complacent about the miracle of breathing. They keep me mindful of how, on the physical level, life literally begins and ends with breath. They keep me mindful of how the Divine breath sustains me in my own spiritual life.
I pray the Mi Shebeirach for my father, knowing that healing comes in many forms, including in the cessation of breath. The prayer of my heart is that when that moment that breath ceases comes for him and for me, it will come gently, and we will know it for what it is: the breath-taking, unifying and loving kiss that comes by the mouth of God.
Rabbi Janet Madden PhD was ordained by The Academy for Jewish Religion-California. She serves as the rabbi of Temple Havurat Emet and Providence Saint John’s Health Center and has been a student of the Gamliel Institute. She is a regular contributor to this blog.
Rabbi Janet Madden
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GAMLIEL INSTITUTE COURSES
LOOKING FORWARD: UPCOMING COURSE
The Gamliel Institute will be offering course 5, Chevrah Kadisha: Ritual, Liturgy, & Practices (Other than Taharah & Shmirah), online, afternoons/evenings, in the Winter semester, starting January 9th, 2018. This is the core course focusing on ritual, liturgy, practical matters, how-to, and what it means (for everything other than Taharah and Shmirah, which are covered in course 2). The instructors will be Rabbi Stuart Kelman and Rabbi SaraLeya Schley, with some guest instructors during the course.
CLASS SESSIONS
The course will meet online for twelve Tuesdays (the day will be adjusted in any weeks with Jewish holidays during this course).
There will be an orientation session January 2nd.
Information on attending the online orientation and the course will be announced and sent to those registered.
REGISTRATION
You can register for any Gamliel Institute course online at jewish-funerals.org/gamreg. A full description of all of the courses is found there.
Gamliel Students are invited to an informal online monthly session, held mnthly. Each month, a different person will offer a short teaching or share some thoughts on a topic of interest to them, and those who are online will have a chance to respond, share their own stories and information, and build our Gamliel Institute community connections. This initiative is being headed up by Rena Boroditsky and Rick Light. You should receive email reminders monthly. The next scheduled session of the Gamliel Café is December 20th with a discussion of the creation of the Chai Mitzvah curriculum on discussing Jewish dying and death by Rena Boroditsky and Rabbi Joe Blair.
Starting in January 2018, the Gamleil Café will move to Thursday evenings at the same time. Watch for information on these events.
Gamliel students should be on the lookout for information on a series of “Gamliel Graduate’ Courses, advanced sessions focusing in on different topics. These will be in groups of three sessions each quarter (three consecutive weeks), with different topics addressed in each series. The goal is to look at these topics in more depth than possible during the core courses. The first course took place in Fall 2017, focusing on Psalms. The next course will be in April, and will look at death as seen in the Zohar, taught by Beth Huppin. Registration is required, and there will be a tuition charge of $72 for the three sessions. Contact us for information, by email info@jewish-funerals.org, or call 410-733-3700, or simply register online at www.jewish-funerals.org/gamreg/.
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16th annual Kavod v’Nichum Chevrah Kadisha and Jewish Cemetery Conference
Mark your calendar and hold the dates! June 3-5, 2018, in the Washington D.C. area. Details to be forthcoming soon.
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DONATIONS
Donations are always needed and most welcome to support the work of Kavod v’Nichum and the Gamliel Institute, helping us to bring you the annual conference, offer community trainings, provide scholarships to students, refurbish and update course materials, expand our teaching, support programs such as Taste of Gamliel, the Gamliel Café, and the Gamliel Continuing Education courses, provide and add to online resources, encourage and support communities in establishing, training, and improving their Chevrah Kadisha, and assist with many other programs and activities.
You can donate online at http://jewish-funerals.org/gamliel-institute-financial-support or by snail mail to: either Kavod v’Nichum, or to The Gamliel Institute, both c/o David Zinner, Executive Director, Kavod v’Nichum, 8112 Sea Water Path, Columbia, MD 21045. Kavod v’Nichum [and the Gamliel Institute] is a recognized and registered 501(c)(3) organization, and donations may be tax-deductible to the full extent provided by law. Call 410-733-3700 if you have any questions or want to know more about supporting Kavod v’Nichum or the Gamliel Institute.
If you would like to receive the periodic Kavod v’Nichum Newsletter by email, or be added to the Kavod v’Nichum Chevrah Kadisha & Jewish Cemetery email discussion list, please be in touch and let us know at info@jewish-funerals.org.
Be sure to check out the Kavod V’Nichum website at www.jewish-funerals.org, and for information on the Gamliel Institute, courses planned, and student work in this field also visit the Gamliel.Institute website.
If you have an idea for an entry you would like to submit to this blog, please be in touch. Email J.blair@jewish-funerals.org. We are always interested in original unpublished materials that would be of interest to our readers, relating to the broad topics surrounding the continuum of Jewish preparation, planning, rituals, rites, customs, practices, activities, and celebrations approaching the end of life, at the time of death, during the funeral, in the grief and mourning process, and in comforting those dying and those mourning, as well as the actions and work of those who address those needs, including those serving in Bikkur Cholim, Caring Committees, the Chevrah Kadisha, as Shomrim, funeral providers, in funeral homes and mortuaries, and operators and maintainers of cemeteries.
To the young and foolish, celebrity romances are the stuff that fairytales are made of. This may be true in some small part, but as we all know, not all fairytales have fairytale endings. According to a recent article in the Daily Mail, a leading UK publication, celebrity marriages are almost twice as likely to end in divorce as those of the everyday couple. Unfortunately for some celeb couples, 2017 will be remembered as the year that saw an end to their marriages.
Hollywood Divorce Lawyers Kept Busy
Fairytale romances keep the tabloids in business, plain and simple. However, bad news travels faster than good and as a result, Hollywood splits sell more papers. It’s really that simple. In fact, it could just be that the very stardom that brought those romances to the attention of adoring fans could be the very same limelight that was the beginning of the end. Few relationships can stand up to this kind of public scrutiny. Divorces can get messy, especially those making headlines, but the right divorce lawyer can help keep things smooth during the transition.
Famous Celeb Couples Calling It Quits in 2017
While the list could go on and on, here are a few of the most publicized marriages that hit the rocks in 2017, causing a major split. Some are still making headlines!
Harvey Weinstein & Georgina Chapman
This split is making the headlines daily due to the underlying cause of the split. Harvey Weinstein is being accused of sexual misconduct by several women, and while it appeared that Georgina would stand by her man, she later filed for divorce. Weinstein hasn’t admitted to indiscretions but is in counseling and hopes to ‘get better’ to be reunified with his family. Is that an admission of guilt? Perhaps, but the jury is still out on that one!
Fergie & Josh Duhamel
In September of 2017, Fergie and Josh revealed to the world that it was finally time to call it quits. After eight years as a married couple, Josh and Fergie admitted that they had actually made the split earlier in the year. They cited wanting to keep a low profile for the welfare of the kids as a reason why they hadn’t announced the breakup earlier. Divorce lawyer Hossein Berenji says that much of the time a divorce is harder on the kids than on the parents and so decisions like this are wise. He would have advised the couple to do this very thing had he been representing them.
Ewan McGregor and Eva Mavrakis
Here is one couple that many thoughts had made it over the hurdle. After more than two decades of marriage, Ewan and Eva are calling it quits. This news was released in October, but the split actually happened in late spring. Were the tabloids somehow to blame? It could be since the split only happened after it had been reported that McGregor had been seen kissing Mary Elizabeth Winstead, his current co-star of Kavanagh QC.
Perhaps celebrity marriages are, at some point, the stuff fairytales are made of, but if history has anything to say about it, at least 51 percent of them will fail. With the national average being only (only?) 26 percent ending in divorce, it’s safe to say that you should read all about celebrity marriages while you can. Here today – gone tomorrow. And so the story goes…
Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders used a Dec. 1 press conference at the Islamic Center of Southern California to denounce President Donald Trump for tweeting videos this week purporting to show Muslims engaging in acts of violence and breaking a statue of the Virgin Mary.
“I speak to you today as a rabbi and as a Jew,” said IKAR Rabbi Sharon Brous. “My people know all too well the dangers of fascists regimes that rise to power through stigmatization and the scapegoating of vulnerable minority populations. We will not shrug this off as yet another reckless act from a reckless administration.”
Brous was one of three Jewish clergy members to participate in the press conference. Beth Shir Shalom Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels and Wilshire Boulevard Temple Rabbi Susan Goldberg —who said she was representing herself and not her congregation — also were among the interfaith leaders at the event.
“The hatred that was spewed out by the president earlier this week can only be combated with this kind of love,” Comess-Daniels said.
This past Wednesday, Trump retweeted three videos that had been shared by Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of the far-right group Britain First.
Critics of the tweets have said Trump was sharing the videos without offering any context for the content in the videos, fomenting hate against Muslims and spreading propaganda of a hate organization.
“And now, just like after Charlottesville here in the United States, a hate group that has operated on the fringes of society has now been promoted and given credibility by the president of the United States of America,” Brous said. “We must not downplay the recklessness and the danger of this act.”
Goldberg expressed the importance of the Jewish community standing with the Muslim community at this time.
“As a Jewish person there is no question where we need to be right now. We need to be standing with our Muslim sisters and brothers and comforting you and letting you know that though there is so much care and love and protection for you,” she said.
Bishop Steve Gilliland, director of Muslim relations at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; Salam Al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council; Daniel Tamm, the Westside area representative of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti; Islamic Center of Southern California chairwoman Hedab Tarifi and Islamic Center spokesperson Omar Ricci also participated.
“It is a sad day when European leaders are teaching the American president about tolerance,” Al-Marayati said, referring to British Prime Minster Theresa May, who criticized Trump for sharing content tweeted by Britain Frist.
Tarifi expressed disappointment in the president for the tweets.
“For us to get together to condemn our own president is really very painful.”
In November, I went to my third Travel Classics Journalism conference. Thank you to Maren, Cathy, Visit Tucson and everyone who created this a fantastic experience. Thank you to all the editors and writers who were there to share their experiences and wisdom!
Video #755: Sky Diving for my birthday with GoJump Oceanside!
