Weather It Is (Extreme Heat)

 Good Evening:

Dangerous and life threatening temperatures!

Low pressure building northwestward from the Saudi Arabian Desert will bring us extreme heat from Shabbat into Tuesday.  Temperatures will be in the upper 30s to near 40 in the central mountain areas, upper 30s in the inland hills, and low 40s in the Old City of Sefad.  Along coastal areas, temperatures should be in the middle 30s. 

After a mid week cool down (of several degrees) into the low 30s, there is a 60% chance that extreme heat will return late next week, into the following week.

Barry Lynn

Weather It Is (A Note About Moshe Silverman)

 Good Afternoon:

The global forecast shows that we've entered a period where little will change until the calendar turns into September.  It's given me time to ponder. To reflect.

Unfortunately, to reflect on what you do when your friend and study partner falls down, suffers a mortal injury, and departs unexpectedly from this world.  It makes you wonder if life is just completely random? Or, if we are just like leaves thrown about by the wind?

The story starts many years ago when Moshe (Silverman) of "Philly Pizza" asked me if I would be interested in learning with him in the mornings, for about half-hour a day. Moshe worked many years at the Philly Pizza, serving both local residents and those (including tour groups) visiting Efrat and the greater Gush Etzion area.  He served all who came and with great equanimity. We started learning together about eleven years ago, and had our last study session this last Monday.  You've all heard of Adin Steinsaltz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adin_Steinsaltz), who passed away not long ago.  I am here to tell you about Moshe.  Moshe's footprint may have been smaller than Rabbi Steinsaltz's, but it was just as deep.

Our learning session enabled me to integrate my religious life with my working life.  Both of us worked hard (if he not harder), but together we made time for learning the Gomorra (Oral Tradition of the Torah).  While we never learned very much at anyone time, we learned together, consistently over these eleven years.

Unfortunately, Moshe developed ALS some time ago, and was forced to retire this last January from work.  Yet, instead of focusing on what would be, he focused on what he could do with the unexpected "windfall" of time.  He spent more time with his family, and our study times (interrupted by his disease and the Coronavirus) were longer and more fulfilling.  

But, who was he, outside of these rather dry facts?  

Moshe was person who embodied Torah values, while working and practicing a religiously observant life. He even completed the recent difficult fast of this past 9th of Av. He was firm in his beliefs, but not judgemental.   He had only good things to say about his family, and spoke proudly of his children.  Moshe was a person of infinite patience and optimism.  He led our learning, but never pushed ahead until we both were comfortable with our understanding of the text before us.  He never criticized, but only rejoiced in our greater understanding. He never tired of going back, and never faltered going forward.  

Moshe died on Shabbat of Parshat Re' Eh.  In this parsha, God tells the Jewish people "Behold, I set before you today, a blessing and a curse..."  Rabbi Judah Mischel (in Torah Tidbits, issue 1383, August 15th, 2020) explains that God is telling us to seize the day, to make today a blessing -- that to leave over or procrastinate can only delay the good, if not bring on the "bad."  Likewise, Moshe was a person who never dwelled on the negative, but asked only what he could be today as the person he was that day.  Imagine if you had to make a 100 pizzas a day?  You can only make them one at a time, and similarly you can only live your day one day at a time.Without this attitude, he could never have endured let alone be contented with his forced retirement.  In fact, his family doesn't look back at the last six months as a time of difficulty, but one where the days were spent, for the first time, with wife, children, and grand children.

When we met last Monday, he'd already fallen a few times, but I don't think that anyone imagined that he would fall and end his life. Instead, I imagined or at least hoped that we could continue our learning (we came close to finishing "Baba Kama"), and of course hoped for a small miracle that his disease would progress ever so slowly.  But, what is slow when -- he told me -- his physical condition continued to appreciably deteriorate?

Yet, when we last departed, I took special note that it wasn't like our usual partings: when he said "I'll call you or we'll meet soon." I too forgot to mention it, and as I crossed the parking lot to my home I pondered just what it might have meant. Thinking back, it makes you wonder if not everything is random. Besides not saying "see you soon," he died on the Shabbat whose Torah Portion exemplified his life, and he died before having to endure the suffering that so many with ALS (and others with unfortunate illnesses) have to endure.  

I'm often too busy to ponder and ask myself what am I doing and why.  I just do what seems to come up, often with my eye on tomorrow. 

Moshe was the opposite.  His eye was on today, and for that reason his last days were full days, days that I'll remember, and so will his family.

I still want to believe that he'll soon come to my door to continue our learning, but I know I will have to finish our last chapter for both of us.

May we only have good news,

Barry Lynn

Weather It Is (Some Swings: Beat the Virus!)

 Good Afternoon:

Weatherwise, we're on the edge of cooler air located to our north, and hotter, more summer like air to our south.  The high heat is associated with a ridge over Africa while the cooler, more fall like weather is associated with a trough of colder weather originating in Siberia.

The ridge will push north a bit over the next week and temperatures will move back from the mid to upper 20s to the low to mid 30s.  Yet, by early next week the ridge will amply and the trough will push back southwards. This means that we'll be back to cooler summer weather by mid-week next week.

Some of you might have heard that there were both light and heavier showers across the landscape the last couple of days. You might have even gotten a tad wet.  Most of the rain was located along coastal areas. Rain doesn't occur that often in summer - still, it seems appropriate that our wet winter would be followed by some summer showers. 

While the summer's weather has been conducive to walks and other outdoor activities, too many activities indoors have led to a large spike in the Coronavirus infection rate.  Of course, these often take place with unmasked participants or those wearing their masks below the nose.  I had the opportunity (unwanted) to visit the hospital Hadassah Ein Kerem.  I started counting the people walking through the hospital corridors in the mall area with their mask worn under the nose.  Based on the percentage of noses exposed (https://healthcare-in-europe.com/en/news/nose-cells-identified-as-likely-coronavirus-entry-points.html), one can extrapolate that we'll arrive at somewhere close to a million Israelis infected by next summer (without a vaccine).  This would bring our numbers from about 1 in 100 to 1 in 10 people.  Folks can always be unlucky, but a simple change in behavior could make a big difference in how many people get sick or not. 

I find the whole thing to be quite stressful.  Most stressful is trying to schedule appointments. How do you schedule an appointment if you can schedule it any time you want to?  Suddenly, my ordered and regular life is full of far too many choices.

Yet, one ancillary, but beneficial result of the Coronavirus is that it presents opportunities to take part in weddings, at least vicariously.  The other night I was off to see the doctor and was instructed to wait outside by my Maccabi appointment message. I stepped outside just in time to hear the 7 marriage blessings, from a wedding taking place outside on the hill across the street.  I found myself smiling. We may be confined, but in many ways we're closer to our families and neighbors than before.

For instance, the kids are mostly home this summer, and the wife both taught school and took an online course.  She's learning the subject of Behavioral Analysis; supposedly, she sees it as a way to expand her professional qualifications. 

Keep this in mind when you consider -- as you may have inferred, I prefer having an ordered schedule, preferably one that leaves little time for choosing new and  different activities.

Still, I have to admit my surprise when the true purpose of her taking the course bore itself out.  After agreeing -- on the spur of the moment -- to pick up the kids, I received two stickers in my WhatsApp box.  The stickers came with a message: "for every 10 stickers you'll receive a gift -- keep up the good work!"  (I'd done something out of schedule.)

I have to tell you that I've never been more excited in my life.  I've had two Sushi dinners, and even received permission to take a Friday off and do what I really like to do.  This didn't work out too well (for my wife), as our choices are limited these days, and I said that I think I would prefer to be in (and was) in the kitchen making lots of different foods for Shabbat. 

One goal of Behavioral Analysis is to change behavior even after the positive reinforcement ends.  I can't say that I've reached that stage, hmm.  I can suggest, though, that our government instruct our police to give vouchers for 50 NIS (or maybe even a hundred) to those wearing masks -- covering their mouth and nose.  This may be the best way for us to beat the virus.

Barry Lynn