Blog B'Omer: This is the Second Post

This post is submitted by KWBSLKM

I am a senior.

This week, my school decided to reinstate a tradition that had been phased out several years ago:

Color War.

However, since "school isn't camp" and Color War is a "camp thing," the administration is not calling it Color War. Instead, they gave it an inspiring and school-oriented name: Spark.

Now, I have nothing against using unnecessary new-and-improved names for things that already have perfectly good names. The government does this all the time, calling elevators "vertical transportation units" and taking my money to pay the deficit "taxes." My problem here is the principals' insistence that this is NOT Color War, as evidenced by the fact that we are calling it Spark.

Well, principals, I have news for you. When you divide the school into teams, give each team captains, and have requirements such as skit, theme song, chidon, cheer, sports, banner, and the like, with judges to score each requirement and a winner at the end, that is Color War, whether or not you call it Spark.

If you don't like Color War because it's too much like camp, don't have Color War. If that doesn't bother you, then why change the name?

Well, actually, there are no team colors. So I guess it's not really Color War.

 It's Field Day.

Forget I said anything.

Blog B'Omer: This is the First Post

My daughter is spending the year-post high school in school in Israel. With Lag B'omer falling out on a Sunday, she spent Shabbos in Tzefat, and went to Meron after Shabbos.

As of yet, I have not heard any details, but I was nervous. She doesn't understand my nervousness, even though her phone died and I was unable to reach her for a long time. Aside from my not enjoying crowds, I understand why I was nervous.

I believe, from reading about it, and various eyewitness accounts I have heard over the years, that what goes on in Meron is probably best described as: Institutionalized Hefkerus.

That's just not my bag.

IT'S ALL IN THE NAME!!

As many of you know, or at least those of you who still check in here, we have been somewhat remiss in keeping up a good pace of providing fresh reading material.

Well, with your help, that's about to change.

We are pleased to announce the first ever (as far as we know):

BLOG B'OMER!

This Sunday we will try to publish 33 news posts, and based on our track record you know that's mostly impossible. That's where you come in, dear reader. We are accepting submissions to our blog under the following conditions:

•  Submission is not a guarantee of publication.
• Any topic is OK (but see below for restrictions)
• Profane, racist or otherwise universally offensive submissions will definitely NOT be published.
• You must use your real name to submit an entry, but you can use any name that is fairly identifiable to the readers of this blog (you know you all know each other), but otherwise fairly web anonymous  

To submit an entry you can use FBB's regular email, for those of you who know it, or just click the email link in the sidebar. 
We look forward to reading your submissions, and be sure to check back Sunday for the results!

Let's see what you got, people!

MUSING ON AN ODD WEEK

Would we (as a nation) be paying more attention to the tragedy in Texas had it not happened the same week as the Marathon bombings? Or, are accidents just tsked away, not thought about, while things that are done purposely, and thus feel like they can be prevented, given more press and more emotional space?

The accident in Texas is just as random, and the destruction there much more widespread, so I have been debating in my mind which it is. I'm not sure, though I do think it is easier to focus on the tragedy of something in which there is a villain, and then potentially there can be a feeling of retribution/balance when the person is caught. It gives something more concrete then the randomness (as random as it is) of an accident.

We've noted before the overreaching desire or need to assign blame or criminality when accidents happen, and I think it is this grasping at something less random that fuels it. Because as random as an attack is to the person going about their daily life, someone, somewhere decided that they would do something, something directed at people, thereby making an element of the event more purposeful.

Don't know if it makes any sense, just going through it in my head.

SHABBOS

I love Shabbos. I love the family time, I love the quiet, I love the...well, everything.

This week I love Shabbos even more.

 This week I have to stop refreshing the page on every news site, stop listening to the radio, and just wait for news to unfold.

This week, I get to go back in time, I get to go back to a time before a 24 hour news cycle, where every media outlet has to report every piece of information, real or imagined in what is considered real time. I get to wait  more than 24 hours and get a full reporting of accurate information, and not have to deal with the dribs and drabs, repetition and breathless announcements of nothing.

I will enjoy my Shabbos because it is Shabbos, and I always do, but I will appreciate Shabbos this week more than I usually do.

My New Hero

Michael Bloomberg's assault on democracy and the free will of people just came to a halt. If this were a movie there would be a record scratch sound on the soundtrack, as someone with a brain, and realizing the Pandora's Box, can of worms, and any other cliche you can think of that the Soda Ban would ignite for the moment put a halt to the law.

For those not in the know, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the man who subverted democracy by allowing the city council to overturn a law that was enacted by popular vote, through the Health Department enacted a law that banned sugary drinks of 16 ounces or more. This includes 2 liter sodas with pizza deliveries, regardless of the fact that most people share two pies and a bottle of soda. This also doesn't include certain places that sell these drinks depending on how they are defined as an establishment.

This being the good old U.S. of A., a place that Bloomberg does not yet fully control, there is a lawsuit. So for now there is a freeze on the fizz!

Yay Judge Milton Tingling!

"The portion cap rule, if upheld, would create an administrative Leviathan and violate the separation of powers doctrine," by straying into territory that should belong to the elected City Council, not the board appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Tingling wrote. 
That, he wrote, "has the potential to be more troubling than sweetened beverages.

How Do You Like That?

According to a report on The Yeshiva World (I admit, I read it sometimes) Rav Shteinman has put out a call for women to assist in doing something spiritual to beseech Heaven to stop yeshiva bochurim from being drafted.

The men have been asked to organize a schedule so that there is round the clock limud Torah (don't tell the Kollel Chatzos people, they charge for that you know) for 5 consecutive days. One of the men considered to be one of the gedolei hador has asked women to join the effort.

And it's not what you think.

Unlike others, who equate a woman's service to G-d and role in Judaism as it relates to men, the Rav requested women say tehillim, strengthen their shmiras shabbos, and be careful with lashon harah and motzie shem ra.

No mention of baking cookies for the men who are learning, and no mention of skirt lengths or what side of the sidewalk to be on.  Nothing but a focus on a way for them to strengthen their own avodas Hashem, and adherence to mitzvos/halacha.

It gives me hope.