Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

Each of us Is all of us. I signed up for Chabad's Daily Dose emails a while ago and love reading them. These wonderful pearls of wisdom always make me think about life, humanity, religion, faith, God, the world, myself... They make me think about what truly matters in this life and in this world, about the difference between what is actually and truly important and what is only important because we (or the world) make it so. Your Daily Dose of Jewish Wisdom: A team, a society, a world is healthy when each member says, "If I don't add in my two bits, the whole system will fail." Not just any two bits, but the two bits that belong to you alone. No one is here just because everyone else is here. No system can function from the top-down alone. Because each of us—and everything that was created—has a spark of the Divine. So that each of us is all of us. A photo posted by Chabad.org (@chabadorg) on Mar 7, 2016 at 10:53am PST

#AnneFrank Hatred killed her yet she saw the good in others. She continues to inspire me. https://t.co/vnYGoc1JOC — Nicole M. Verhaaf (@nimavenl) June 12, 2015 Anne Frank would have turned 86 today. Anti-Semitism killed this gifted young writer. #NeverForget pic.twitter.com/UYiK7pizGc — Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) June 12, 2015

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day - Yom Ha Shoah in Hebrew. May we never forget. May we never be silent. May we remember those who died and those who lived, scarred and beaten but not defeated. May we always remember the words "Never Again" and work, year in and year out, to understand their meaning and to honour the memory of those who died, those who suffered, those who fought and those who lost so much.  Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah ( יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה ; "Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day"), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah ( יום השואה ) and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews and five million others who perished in the Holocaust as a result of the actions carried out by Nazi Germany and its accessories, and for the Jewish resistance in that period. In Israel, it is a national memorial day and public h...

Jerusalem is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the most fascinating cities on the planet and has, for a long time, been very near the top of my list of Cities To Visit. Thousands of years of history, religion, culture, devotion, prayer, longing and joy make Jerusalem a complex and inspirational location. How can one resist the beauty of this amazing city?! Jerusalem's Archeological Park – excavations site at the foot of the Temple Mount, revealing thousands of years of the... Posted by ‎ Noam Chen - Photographer | נועם חן - צלם ‎ on Wednesday, 1 April 2015

While I applaud this initiative, it saddens me that it is necessary. Hating others simply because of who they are, what they believe or who their family is, makes absolutely no sense to me. I oppose discrimination and senseless hatred, no matter what. We are all human, all equal, all one big family, all inhabitants of planet earth. We may look different, think different things, speak different languages, read different holy books and believe different truths, however we are all human and whether we like it or not, we are all stuck on this planet together. The Facebook page for the event has mostly Norwegian posts however I've read several English-language posts from those who applaud the idea and wish they could join in themselves. Personally, I believe that this is a good idea, it reminds me of the " I'll Ride With You " campaign in Australia after the Sydney Siege. Hatred is not the answer, intolerance is not the solution. Oslo Muslims to form 'peace ring...

The following is a quote from a Times of Israel newspaper article regarding the fatal shooting outside a synagogue in Copenhagen, Denmark, this past weekend. T he mother of the girl who celebrated her bat mitzvah at a Copenhagen synagogue when a gunman opened fire outside, killing one Jewish security guard, recalled the attack with horror and grief on Monday, and expressed sorrow at the death of the beloved community member, Dan Uzan.  “Only an hour beforehand I went out to bring [Uzan] cakes and sandwiches,” Mita Ben-Tov told Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. “All of the sudden the celebration looks vain, [my daughter] Hannah told me ‘Mom, I wish I had not had a bat mitzvah and that Dan would have stayed alive.'”  Ben-Tov said guests and children were forced to hide in a basement for two hours following the shooting.  “We were dancing and singing, and suddenly the second guard entered and told us to turn the music down,” she said. “We were not aware that there was ...

The Day The World Disappeared | Nimavenl After enjoying the latest episode of The Walking Dead tonight, the world beyond the living room windows suddenly seemed to disappear.  As the fog rolled in and the footpath and houses across the street turned invisible, I couldn't resist the spectacle outside and - of course - took a gazillion photos. It isn't every day that the world practically vanishes, after all!  The street and the footpath below, the windows of houses across the street, trees beyond those houses and buildings in the distance - all gone. All that could be seen was what the photo shows - vague shapes nearby with lights behind them; the shapes only clearly recognisable as trees due to the brightness of the lights. With so much of the 'known world' suddenly missing, we wondered - What would we do if a Walker [a zombie] suddenly appeared out of the mysterious haze? How would we respond to such a strange sight? Would we even react to flesh-e...

I may not be Jewish, however that won't stop me from sharing this beautiful photo! To all those who celebrate Hanukkah - Happy Holidays and may every candle you light remind you that miracles are possible! Post by ‎ Noam Chen - Photographer | נועם חן - צלם ‎.

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan My rating: 5 of 5 stars I've put this book down countless times since I started reading it, intending to start again from the beginning and take notes. It's almost like I'm afraid that without doing some serious prep work first, I might miss something or not quite understand the historical context of a situation. Yet the book keeps drawing me back in: Looking at it turns into reading a few sentences turns into reading another chapter. The writing style makes the book easy to read, there are plenty of in-text references to ensure I don't need (to take) notes and learning more about the revolutionary Jesus that Aslan describes keeps me coming back for more. "Zealot" bring the Holy Land of Jesus' time almost close enough to touch, which makes it an entertaining, interesting and thought-provoking book. UPDATE: Having read through the Notes section and finished the book, I am even more amazed at t...

Book of Psalms: With an Interlinear Translation by Menachem Davis My rating: 5 of 5 stars I very much enjoyed reading the Psalms and working on my (very basic) Hebrew at the same time. While reading left-to-right English from right to left can be confusing, I have to admit that the directional arrows helped me adjust easily, just as the introduction promised. The interlinear translation makes the Hebrew easy to connect with while ensuring that the English-language sentences make sense to the eye and the mind. View all my reviews

I am looking forward to reading Reza Aslan's newest book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth , a book exploring the life and teachings of the historical Jesus. Although I am not a Christian and do not believe that Jesus is or was the son of God, I am interested in world religions, Biblical history and Israel, which makes Jesus a very interesting person to learn about. If time travel existed (and my time machine had a Tardis-like translation circuit...) I would love to head to the Galilee or (how awesome would that be: ) to the Jerusalem of Jesus' time to experience for myself what life was like back then and to find out in what kind of a world he lived. I would love to be just a face in the crowd, one of the many who congregated to hear Jesus speak or see for myself if what people were saying about him was true. How amazing would it be to actually meet the man behind the legend, to see the expression on his face as he talks, explains and teaches, to listen to word...

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon My rating: 4 of 5 stars I enjoyed this book but did find it a little hard to read at times. I found the story very interesting, and was fascinated with the descriptions of how a Jewish state could have been, had it not been for the country of Israel. Definitely a good read, and worth the time it took me to finish the book. View all my reviews

Foreskin's Lament by Shalom Auslander My rating: 5 of 5 stars I'd heard of this book and had one of those "I should read it... one day" feelings about it, but when it came across my desk at work, I decided that 'one day' had arrived. Reading the first few pages in my lunch break, I decided I was going to enjoy this book. Reading a bit more at home - I knew I was already loving it. And now, having finished it - I want to read MORE MORE MORE !!!!! View all my reviews

Seven Blessings by Ruchama King Feuerman My rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting read, and a respectful glimpse into a fascinating world. I enjoyed this book, found it easy to get through, enjoyed the variety of the stories, and feel that it will help me gain a better insight into the world of the Orthodox in Me'a Shearim. View all my reviews

People of the Book by Geraldine  Brooks My rating: 5 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this book, and loved learning about what goes into making and restoring books. The story definitely intrigued me, but I found it hard to 'get into' the book completely due to the chapters being as they were. Lovely book however, and great for reading a bit out of every day. View all my reviews

The Other Side of Israel: My Journey Across the Jewish/Arab Divide by Susan Nathan My rating: 5 of 5 stars I picked up this book as it looked like it would be very interesting to read. Insider-stories such as this one usually give an account of life-on-the-ground that is not always portrayed in the mainstream media, and I was interested in this new viewpoint. My fascination with the Middle-East has a lot to do with its religious history, and a lot to do with its people. This means *all* people, which is why this book appealed to me. The writer, Susan Nathan is a Jew and a former ardent Zionist who  moved to Israel in 1999. She writes (p.39), "The object of my desire was to make aliya, the Hebrew word for 'ascent', an idea that in returning to Israel a Jew is fulfilling a divinely ordained mission." She then realised that there was a large non-Jewish population living inside Israel - mostly Palestinian Arabs who had lost their homes and lands yet gained citizenship ...

How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household by Blu Greenberg My rating: 5 of 5 stars I continue to be very impressed with this book, and find myself coming back to it almost daily since buying it a month ago. It is a wonderful reference tool, and I definitely recommend this to anyone interested in how an Orthodox household is run. View all my reviews