Not the glove at the left, but what is in the center of this photo? This post idea is brought to you by my middle son, the creative filmmaker and owner of the gloves and hands.

Snowgirl, January 2009, built by two offspring of mine and a friend

On My Blog

Photo Memes:
Today’s Flowers
Ruby Tuesday
Thursday Challenge: Cup (can anyone guess where this was taken?)
Sky Watch in the Berkshires

In Which My Son Makes Matzo Balls that are Light and Fluffy

Upcoming Highland Park Public Library Teen Film Festival

Healthy Anger

Parsha Posts:
Parsha Questions (there’s one at the bottom that has not yet been answered)
Symbol of the Moon in Judaism

Elsewhere on the Web

Letter from a Reserve Soldier

Autism, Vaccines and the CDC

Why We (Continue to) Pay Lavishly
(a friend now has a blog on Psychology Today)

I’ll leave you with some humor:
An Israeli Examines a Map of the United States
And Wonders Why the Midwest isn’t in the West

I am greatly enjoying the work I do for the Highland Park Public Library, especially the page for 2009 Teen Film Festival. I must admit some bias in this project; I have a talented filmmaking son whose film will be one of those screened on Sunday, February 8 at 2 pm. I understand he has some cameo roles in some of the other films. A beaming mom!

Sky Watch Friday is a photo meme with photos of sunrises, sunsets, blue skies, gray skies, pink skies, dark skies and any other kind of sky posted by bloggers all over the planet.

Last week my family and I had a fun time skiing the Berkshires. My focus was more on skiing and my family than on getting great photos, especially since: 1) it was cold 2) the skies were mostly gray 3) skiing is more of a tactile sport; you spend a lot of concentration (or at least I do) on getting good form and traversing the slopes and 4) did I mention it was cold? It’s hard to take photos with two layers of gloves on your hands.

My boys are getting quite good at skiing. I think they might be two dots far ahead in this photo.

In the summer, the Berkshires are a fabulous source of cultural activities: Tanglewood (classical music), Jacob’s Pillow (modern dance), museums and theater. Great skies all year round (even when they are gray).

The Thursday Challenge theme this week is CONTAINER (Cup, Can, Box, Basket, Bog, Pan, Envelope, Shipping,…).

I learned this week that the Chinese calendar is like the Jewish calendar, as it follows the moon, but it has a correction, a leap year of some sort so the holidays stay in the right seasons. So some bloggers this week were wishing me Happy Chinese New Year while others were wishing me a good month (it was the beginning of the Hebrew month of Shevat). It occurred on the same day because of the moon.

In this week’s parsha, the moon first becomes a symbol of hope and renewal for the Jewish people. There are many Jewish laws (halachot) regarding the sighting of a new moon. In the days of old, witnesses who saw the new moon would set fires on a string of hilltops to let neighboring and far communities know of the new month. Now we follow a calendar.

In his book Ancient Secrets: Using the Stories of the Bible to Improve Our Everyday Lives Rabbi Levi Meier talks about the moon:

Note that God’s symbols, as presented in the Bible, are generally elements of nature: a tree, a rainbow, a rock. The Bible imbues these natural elements with meaning, and each symbol is intended to give us strength to face the challenges that arise.

So when the pharaoh’s rage is unleashed as he is threatened with the last of the ten plagues—the death of all firstborn Egyptian males—the Israelites are told to look to the new moon.

It does seem strange, that amidst these plagues, the concept of Rosh Chodesh, the new month, is introduced.

Rabbi Meier continues:

The new moon silently speaks to them of renewal, of a new beginning. The moon returns each night to light the darkness, changing its shape, waxing and waning, only to rise afresh after a cycle of twenty-eight days. It speaks to them of the cyclical nature of life.

Just as the Israelites are getting ready to leave Egypt, they are given not only a symbol of hope but also a reminder that life is like the moon. It, too, moves in cycles. In the worst of times, it is important to remember that there will always be renewal.

The cycles of waxing and waning, of trust and mistrust, of intimacy and distance, of joy and despair, are all normal. A great deal of unhappiness in this world comes from our refusing to acknowledge this simple fact. When things are going well, we want to hold on to those feelings of happiness and bliss. But happiness gives way to sadness, as it surely must. And we suffer needlessly, agonizing over the realization that happiness, once achieved, cannot last forever. In the midst of our disappointment, we forget the moon will rise again, bringing joy once more.

The great figures of the Bible understood that we need “down” cycles in order to have “up” cycles. Thus, even in the worst of times, they were never immobilized by despair. They used the dark moments to change, to grow, and to move forward.

What do you think of when you see the moon?