Gethsemane 1934

Maria Magdalene (Mary Magdalene) is the Russian Orthodox Church located on the Mount of Olives, in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem, Israel.
The church is dedicated to Miryam of Migdal, a follower of Jesus. Maria Magdalene was the first to see Christ after he was resurrected, and was a crucial and important disciple of Jesus, and seemingly his primary female associate, along with Mary of Bethany, whom some believe to have been the same woman.
The church was built in 1886 by Tzar Alexander III as a commemoration for his mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, in the traditional tented roof Russian style, including seven onion shaped golden domes. Photograph dates from 1934

reprinted from April 2011

No Egg Hunt

For the first time in over 60 years, the children of Little Lehigh Manor will not be enjoying an egg hunt on the same slope of Lehigh Parkway. The event was started in the late 1940's by the homeowners association, then taken over by the local chapter of the Optimist International in 1960. That chapter now has been reduced by the years to three men, all in their eighties, and one of them now lives in Florida. Ever the optimist, Dave Jordan put up the sign above, hoping to create some interest for next year. So far, he has received only two calls, one from an older Jewish blogger, who hunted for eggs there as a child growing up in that wonderful neighborhood. If you have an interest in volunteering to take over the event, please phone Dave at 610 437-3443.

Parkway Memories

We who lived in the Parkway during the 1950's have a special bond. We know we grew up in one of the most nurturing neighborhoods possible. Slow driving parents would keep a sharp eye out for dashing kids. The Halloween Parade would start and end at our own elementary School. The Easter Egg Hunt would take place on a open slope of our beloved park.

reprinted from April 2010

A Modern Mein Kampf

In 2007, University of Chicago Professor John Mearsheimer co-authored The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. His premise was that AIPAC successfully manipulated our foreign policy to serve Israel, not United States. The book was a best seller and has launched a career way beyond his tenure at Chicago. He has graduated to criticizing Israel directly, and now, Jews. In 2010 he proclaimed Israelis as belonging to either the Righteous Jews or the New Afrikaners, stating that Israel was becoming an apartheid state. Last year he wrote a dust jacket endorsement for a book by a Hitler apologist. He can be found as a commentator on Al Jazeera and a speaker at Palestinian seminars. Yesterday, some of his misconceptions about AIPAC were parroted as comments in the local blogosphere.

Moshe Dayan

Moshe Dayan on born on a kibbutz near the Sea of Galilee in 1915. When he was 14, he joined the outlawed Haganah, an underground defense force to protect Jewish settlements from Arab attacks. Although caught and imprisoned by the British for two years, he would fight for them in Lebanon during WWII, losing his eye. In the 1948 War of Independence, he fought on all the fronts, defending Israel; by 1953 he was Chief of Staff of the Israeli Armed Forces. In 1956 he led the Suez Campaign.

In 1967 he was Defense Minister for the Six Day War. He remained in that position through the War of 1973. Although a genuine hero in every sense of the word, he was held responsible for the initial success of Egyptian forces in the surprise attack on Yom Kippur (1973), and would resign from his position.

Israel is too small of a country, and it's enemies too numerous, for any miscalculations regarding it's security.

reprinted from April 2010

A Sore Winner

Back in early March, I employed Wimpy to help me pander for votes in The Morning Call blog contest. I asked you to go everyday to the paper's website, and vote for me in the Opinion classification; You did, thank you. I will now bite the hand that gave me the prize. Out of 18 winners, the paper printed the name of 10 highest vote getters on Friday. At my complaint, they reprinted the list on Saturday, to include the entire 18 winners. Neither list on their website linked to the actual blogs. There were 90 contestants in the contest, sending hundreds of readers to the paper's website for two weeks, but they couldn't provide a simple link to the winners? The paper uses the contest to promote the paper, not the bloggers.