Good afternoon:
Low pressure to our southeast continues to intensify, and high temperatures associated with it will peak on Thursday (the 9th of Av). Temperatures will reach dangerous levels, and this is especially so for people fasting on Thursday. People fasting can easily dehydrate and possibly suffer from hyperthermia if they are not extremely careful. Temperatures should be in the mid to upper 30s inland, and the low to mid 30s in the coastal plain, and in the low 40s in the Jordan Valley. Eilat takes top heat honors, with temperatures in the mid to upper 40s all week.
In our last blog, we were hopeful that the heatwave would break Wednesday night, but for the last few days it's been apparent that the heat wave will not break until Friday. Because there is going to be low humidity, it's very important to stay inside and out of the heat as much as possible.
Summer may feel like it has finally arrived, but the longer range forecast is actually showing milder temperatures as we move into the first and second weeks of August.
It's definitely a bad week for it to be so hot, and a sad period of time for the Jewish people. There have been many tragedies during this period. Both Temples (yes, they existed Mr. Abbas) were destroyed during this time (https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/295601/jewish/Breaking-Walls.htm), and this date in Jewish history was chosen by others to implement their evil practices (https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/7-tragedies-that-befell-the-jewish-people-on-tisha-beav-598199).
Unfortunately, these can be times of personal tragedy. Our town has the difficult task of saying goodbye to one our residents, Dr. and Rabbi Mordecai Reich . He was a person known by many, and loved by many for both his insight and kindness expressed to all that he met. During his prolonged illness, he fought hard against and yet still found the time to write Divrei Torah to his family each Shabbat eve. Before his passing, his children did him the honor and kindness of making his writings into a book. His kindness and love must now be sought in the words that he wrote. Yet, I can't help but thinking that a person so special can't just disappear, that one day in the future his family will see his kind and loving personality within of Sima and Mordecai's grandchildren.
I'm not really the person to write or deal with loss. I find it very hard to throw anything, let alone to say goodbye to anyone. I'm even not one to get rid of a old sock or undershirt until I'm not sure which side is in or which hole is for my head. I have papers stretching back years and pictures or drawings my kids made -- stored away in boxes.
Yet, I often wonder if these memories stored away are not necessarily easy to find. And, if one cannot retrieve or even remember those instances in life that had meaning or brought happiness, then what does one really have?
That's why it's so important to at least put in order your memories and make available them to your children those that you want to pass on. It can be something written, an old photo album (with names to go along), or even a picture or childhood drawing that gives grounding to the past, and present value and meaning to those who participate in these memories. To be quite frank, it's really important to know where you've come from because without them you'll never know where you need to go. Hence, that's why "Cancel Culture" is for dummies.
I wish that I could offer more than words to the Reich family, and more than encouragement for a future filled with times of happiness. I can't make these things happen, but I am at least confident that Mordecai and Sima have brought to this world the possibility that these will come to pass.
Barry Lynn
Monday, July 27, 2020
Monday, July 20, 2020
Weather It Is (Summer Arrives)
Good Afternoon:
It's the end of the third week in July and summer has finally arrived, almost.
While the first part of this week will be just hot, the second half of the week and especially this Shabbat weekend will turn noticeably hotter. It will be a good time to get wet and stay wet, although there will be some observing the 9 days prior to the 9th of Av who won't go swimming no matter how hot it is. These folks will need to stay in the shade or indoors. Fortunately, the heat is expected to break Wednesday night of next week, as the fast commences.
It's been a busy time here in Israel, if not elsewhere where the number of Coronavirus cases has more than tripled over the last month. How did it happen?
Speaking of my experience here, I can tell you that the increase in cases occurred for the following reasons.
1) People did not wear masks and keep their distance from others.
2) The new government opened schools, did not require that masks be worn at schools during the week of the heatwave in May, and did not enforce mask wearing thereafter.
3) The new government allowed crowds to fill buses.
4) Large private parties were held.
5) Government ministers did not set good examples for mass wearing or attending large social events.
6) People did not wear masks and keep their distance from others.
On my recent trip to the mall, I did notice a very large fraction of people properly wearing masks (covering their noses and mouth). However, there were some eating without masks (hard to eat with one), and some just not wearing their masks. Since the mall is a closed area, these people (parents and children) are more likely to get sick, and then get those at home sick as well.
Now, as noted in the Jerusalem Post's summary of Health Ministry statistics "Who has the virus and where did they catch it?", most people caught the virus at home, from another family member. Hence, the most dangerous place to be is the home! While technically true, one should keep in mind that the virus is not hovering like the boogey man (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogeyman) waiting to pounce as we're sleeping. Rather, the virus takes advantage of stupidity (or just plain carelessness or bad luck). For instance, the Post reported that 9.5% caught the virus at schools, and 5.6% at event halls, followed closely by religious establishments at 4.8%. One can also become sick eating in restaurants and visiting bars (4%). The flip side is being outside, going to the pool, or sports field are safer activities, with the sports field being the least safe of the three.
To repeat, how did we and other countries such as the US get to this situation (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html)? By not wearing masks and not keeping social distancing. In fact, of those you see most often not wearing masks: 40% of those sick in Israel are between the ages of 10 to 30, and they also are making up a higher percentage of severe cases as their relative percentage of the total sick grows (see also: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/us/coronavirus-cases-young-people.html). Worse, 1/3 adults age 18-25 can develop severe symptoms (https://www.sciencealert.com/smoking-may-explain-why-1-in-3-young-adults-are-at-risk-of-severe-coronavirus). Moreover, it takes time for symptoms to appear (and they don't appear in everyone) https://www.singlecare.com/blog/news/coronavirus-symptoms-and-incubation-period/), so the disease is easily spread.
In contrast, the number of cases in European countries are way down (https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-europe-slowed-its-coronavirus-cases-from-a-torrent-to-a-trickle-11595240731?). This is attributed to the continued banning of large gatherings, consistent testing and tracking of individuals, while wearing masks and keeping social distancing.
Don't go out without a mask ON: the life you save may be your own.
Barry Lynn
It's the end of the third week in July and summer has finally arrived, almost.
While the first part of this week will be just hot, the second half of the week and especially this Shabbat weekend will turn noticeably hotter. It will be a good time to get wet and stay wet, although there will be some observing the 9 days prior to the 9th of Av who won't go swimming no matter how hot it is. These folks will need to stay in the shade or indoors. Fortunately, the heat is expected to break Wednesday night of next week, as the fast commences.
It's been a busy time here in Israel, if not elsewhere where the number of Coronavirus cases has more than tripled over the last month. How did it happen?
Speaking of my experience here, I can tell you that the increase in cases occurred for the following reasons.
1) People did not wear masks and keep their distance from others.
2) The new government opened schools, did not require that masks be worn at schools during the week of the heatwave in May, and did not enforce mask wearing thereafter.
3) The new government allowed crowds to fill buses.
4) Large private parties were held.
5) Government ministers did not set good examples for mass wearing or attending large social events.
6) People did not wear masks and keep their distance from others.
On my recent trip to the mall, I did notice a very large fraction of people properly wearing masks (covering their noses and mouth). However, there were some eating without masks (hard to eat with one), and some just not wearing their masks. Since the mall is a closed area, these people (parents and children) are more likely to get sick, and then get those at home sick as well.
Now, as noted in the Jerusalem Post's summary of Health Ministry statistics "Who has the virus and where did they catch it?", most people caught the virus at home, from another family member. Hence, the most dangerous place to be is the home! While technically true, one should keep in mind that the virus is not hovering like the boogey man (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogeyman) waiting to pounce as we're sleeping. Rather, the virus takes advantage of stupidity (or just plain carelessness or bad luck). For instance, the Post reported that 9.5% caught the virus at schools, and 5.6% at event halls, followed closely by religious establishments at 4.8%. One can also become sick eating in restaurants and visiting bars (4%). The flip side is being outside, going to the pool, or sports field are safer activities, with the sports field being the least safe of the three.
To repeat, how did we and other countries such as the US get to this situation (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html)? By not wearing masks and not keeping social distancing. In fact, of those you see most often not wearing masks: 40% of those sick in Israel are between the ages of 10 to 30, and they also are making up a higher percentage of severe cases as their relative percentage of the total sick grows (see also: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/us/coronavirus-cases-young-people.html). Worse, 1/3 adults age 18-25 can develop severe symptoms (https://www.sciencealert.com/smoking-may-explain-why-1-in-3-young-adults-are-at-risk-of-severe-coronavirus). Moreover, it takes time for symptoms to appear (and they don't appear in everyone) https://www.singlecare.com/blog/news/coronavirus-symptoms-and-incubation-period/), so the disease is easily spread.
In contrast, the number of cases in European countries are way down (https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-europe-slowed-its-coronavirus-cases-from-a-torrent-to-a-trickle-11595240731?). This is attributed to the continued banning of large gatherings, consistent testing and tracking of individuals, while wearing masks and keeping social distancing.
Don't go out without a mask ON: the life you save may be your own.
Barry Lynn
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Weather It Is (Or Not)
Good Evening:
The wind continues to blow, and as a result, the apples continue to fall off our tree. After a period of intense heat in late May, June turned out to be a tad on average cooler than normal. It was also quite windy, and it seems like the wind never stops. It's nice, but it makes you wish for just a bit more calm in these tumultuous times.
Our relatively cool, but beautiful, kite flying weather is courtesy of a broad trough of lower pressure in the upper atmosphere, whose origin is actually as far north as Scandinavia. Associated with this trough is a weak area of low pressure situated over the eastern Mediterranean, and as a result our winds have been blowing from the relatively cool northwest. Normally, we're under the influence of desert low pressure, which means high heat and quite stagnant conditions.
The weather for the rest of the week should stay cool, but next week should seem more summer like temperatures. However, there is a lot of uncertainty in the forecast over the next two weeks, which makes sense as our weather is unusually cool for summertime, and the circulation pattern unusually wavy for this time of year. In fact, we don't really seem to be under the influence of the western edge of the Indian Monsoon, which usually brings us hotter weather as westward moving air sinks off the Jordanian mountain ridge.
It's great that summer seems on hold, as we can keep the windows open as we work or just play at home. A good breeze, like an apple a day, can keep the coronavirus away. Of course, it can't keep the husband out of the wife's hair. First, she suggested I work upstairs, and from there she asked if maybe I wanted to physically go the University to work. It wasn't long, though, before she suggested I visit my parents, knowing fully well that the only way to get there is to sail, and that isn't exactly flying (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/28/world/americas/coronavirus-argentina-sailor.html).
I'm still at home because, unfortunately, there was a lack of attention to keeping social distance and wearing masks, and now those newly infected are more than 1000 a day. Of course, it begins at the top, and one can't really say that our ministers follow the rules they ostensibly set for the rest of us (https://www.timesofisrael.com/minister-knowingly-breaks-virus-guidelines-to-attend-ribbon-cutting/).
Quite frankly, though. I am a bit surprised that they have any time to pay attention to us (a good number of us that voted for them). They've been too busy setting up ministries and jobs for themselves (https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-34-ministers-of-israels-35th-government/) to notice that the citizens of the country could use some of those jobs. Do they realize that an unemployment rate of 20% is a 5 fold increase from previous unemployment rates before the Coronavirus struck?
The good news is that I am almost ready for my appearance before the Knesset Finance Committee. Sometime ago, we had to move to a bigger home, make renovations, etc, and more recently we've had additional expenses associated with having teenagers in the home. I feel very strongly that I, like the Prime Minister (https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-knesset-committee-approves-million-shekel-tax-break-for-netanyahu-1.8941544), should receive retroactive tax breaks going back a number of years. In my case, I think tax refunds going back about 15 years would be just about right. I'll tell the committee that we could really use the money, and the amounts would really make a difference in our lives. I realize that I am not the Prime Minister, but if he asks himself how many times it has rained on his parade since he became Prime Minister, he should realize that if anyone deserves a break I do.
Barry Lynn
The wind continues to blow, and as a result, the apples continue to fall off our tree. After a period of intense heat in late May, June turned out to be a tad on average cooler than normal. It was also quite windy, and it seems like the wind never stops. It's nice, but it makes you wish for just a bit more calm in these tumultuous times.
Our relatively cool, but beautiful, kite flying weather is courtesy of a broad trough of lower pressure in the upper atmosphere, whose origin is actually as far north as Scandinavia. Associated with this trough is a weak area of low pressure situated over the eastern Mediterranean, and as a result our winds have been blowing from the relatively cool northwest. Normally, we're under the influence of desert low pressure, which means high heat and quite stagnant conditions.
The weather for the rest of the week should stay cool, but next week should seem more summer like temperatures. However, there is a lot of uncertainty in the forecast over the next two weeks, which makes sense as our weather is unusually cool for summertime, and the circulation pattern unusually wavy for this time of year. In fact, we don't really seem to be under the influence of the western edge of the Indian Monsoon, which usually brings us hotter weather as westward moving air sinks off the Jordanian mountain ridge.
It's great that summer seems on hold, as we can keep the windows open as we work or just play at home. A good breeze, like an apple a day, can keep the coronavirus away. Of course, it can't keep the husband out of the wife's hair. First, she suggested I work upstairs, and from there she asked if maybe I wanted to physically go the University to work. It wasn't long, though, before she suggested I visit my parents, knowing fully well that the only way to get there is to sail, and that isn't exactly flying (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/28/world/americas/coronavirus-argentina-sailor.html).
I'm still at home because, unfortunately, there was a lack of attention to keeping social distance and wearing masks, and now those newly infected are more than 1000 a day. Of course, it begins at the top, and one can't really say that our ministers follow the rules they ostensibly set for the rest of us (https://www.timesofisrael.com/minister-knowingly-breaks-virus-guidelines-to-attend-ribbon-cutting/).
Quite frankly, though. I am a bit surprised that they have any time to pay attention to us (a good number of us that voted for them). They've been too busy setting up ministries and jobs for themselves (https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-34-ministers-of-israels-35th-government/) to notice that the citizens of the country could use some of those jobs. Do they realize that an unemployment rate of 20% is a 5 fold increase from previous unemployment rates before the Coronavirus struck?
The good news is that I am almost ready for my appearance before the Knesset Finance Committee. Sometime ago, we had to move to a bigger home, make renovations, etc, and more recently we've had additional expenses associated with having teenagers in the home. I feel very strongly that I, like the Prime Minister (https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-knesset-committee-approves-million-shekel-tax-break-for-netanyahu-1.8941544), should receive retroactive tax breaks going back a number of years. In my case, I think tax refunds going back about 15 years would be just about right. I'll tell the committee that we could really use the money, and the amounts would really make a difference in our lives. I realize that I am not the Prime Minister, but if he asks himself how many times it has rained on his parade since he became Prime Minister, he should realize that if anyone deserves a break I do.
Barry Lynn
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