Driss-A-Blog

So it was an interesting conversation, basically I am interested in what kids think about their parents who make aliyah. She was happy with it. She said tho' that she had older siblings who had a much harder time.

Anyway, got home and passed out on the couch. Woke up and went bowling and came home and took a nap. Good thing, I had a meeting that afternoon at Neve. Went to the Old City for the Kotel, had dinner, checked email, paid bills went home.

I was in pajamas ready to go to sleep, and I hear a scream from the other room, one of the girls in the apartment got engaged. Mazal tov! We ended up having a l'chayim till about 4am. I decided it was a good time to call Batya, it had been an incredibly long time since I'd spoken to her. I was thrilled. Totally on my face, but it was really nice. Then I ended up talking to my new roomate till 5am!

Got up this morning at 9am, to make Shabbos plans calls and to get a hold of my friend Deborah (who is my tiyul buddy) to see what was going on. We had brunch - waffles, eggs, coffee and orange juice. We were going to go to Chevron and Kever Rochel, and we were in the van, but it wasn't bullet proof and we weren't so comfortable. So we decided instead to go to the Bible Lands Museum. That was nice.

Tonight on my way back from the Kotel, I knew that there was going to be the "gay pride" parade. So I went to check it out. King George Street was closed and it was pretty full of people. I got some photos of some very interesting people. There was a fellow who was walking in his briefs [no pants] and a pair of shoes. He had written on his back, "J-m boys, Haifa is behind you." Very impressive. Another person had a kipa on, leather pants, and tzitizis hanging over one shoulder - like a fashion statement.

It seemed to be a gathering of everybody. The anti-meat people were there, the pro-Jesus people were there, in fact there was a poster that said, "Jesus hearts everybody." Awww, I'm touched. Actually in fact, please DON'T touch me. Of course there was a large pro-disengagement group. Someone had on a poster with the rainbow background, "Yehudim megaresh Yehudim"-Jews do push out Jews. This is a play on the anti-disengagement slogan here, "Yehudim lo megaresh Yehudim" - Jews do not push out Jews.

I saw one fellow in drag. He was in a wedding gown and standing near another fellow dressed in a suit. I would've taken a picture but my camera batteries were done. Another fellow had a poster written that the Temple had been destroyed because of sinat chinam - senseless hatred. I'm glad he felt he needed to point that out for me.

Can you tell that I'm not impressed, besides for being exhausted, this was rediculous. I caught up with the parade when part of it was in front of the Great Synagogue in Rechavia. See the juxtaposition?

I've been thinking about this issue for a while now, and this is part of my conclusions about the homosexual movement and really any movement that the people feel the need to define themselves by a single aspect of themselves instead of what they are able to accomplish in their lives and the contributions they are able to make to society as a whole.

These people have missed the point of existence. Even if one didn't believe in G-d or religion, the point of living still is the contribution you've made to make the world a better place. By limiting yourself, and saying "I am gay - and this is all that I am, others need to judge me by this and not by my accomplishments" -- this is sad. Like Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said, we must judge people by their character and not by the color of their skin [or by their sexual "orientation"]. These people have missed the boat and are celebrating their limited definition of self.

At this point I must recommend a book that I picked up on my way out of the States. It's called "The Death of Right and Wrong" by Tammy Bruce. Amazing book, I really recommend it. She's a gay conservative. I cannot stress this enough -- you must read it.

That was tonight, I left the party, was delayed by a chafetz chasud, suspicious object, got dinner, and came to check email and blog. I'm wiped out. Believe it or not, I've got Shabbos plans as of Thursday morning. To all -- Have a great Shabbos.

With love of Israel.
Shira