The best thing about throwing a party is that I can attend with the knowledge that I'll like all the people there, because I invited them!

It went really well last night. About 40 people came, all these really nice people whom I've gotten to know over the last year and/or hope to get to know better. Yael was kind enough to let me throw the shindig at her place, and was so great about helping me shop and set up; she even shlepped a watermelon and a full grocery bag up several flights of stairs for me. Now that's a good friend!

Noa gave a great dvar Torah about Jewish continuity and how Eretz Yisrael plays a big part in it (along with other things like family, leadership, halacha, and one other thing I don't remember), and how our having moved here puts us in the category of the daughters of Tzlafchad, who valued the land so much that they managed to get a law made just for them. Then, Elisheva H. from my ulpan class said a few stirring words about the importance of Aliyah. I don't remember what she said but I remember thinking it was really inspiring.

The best part of the party, for me, was after the divrei Torah, when RivkA M, who'd come with her kids, said that her oldest, Yaffa, had listened to the speeches and said "it makes me realize how lucky I am to have been born here, especially in Jerusalem." I saw my native-Israeli neighbor nod in agreement. Everyone else in the room was an immigrant from America, England, France, or Russia. A real ingathering of exiles! And we've all survived at least one year of being immigrants!

(Native-Israeli guy from the Shabbaton, the one on whom I'd crushed for several days, showed up later. More about him some other time - but don't hold your breath for any exciting news. The key word there is "Whatever!" with a capital W and me putting my thumbs together to make the W shape.)

At the end of the party, a few other guests, who have been here longer, thanked me for reminding them how exciting and important Aliyah is, since they'd pretty much forgotten.

It made me feel really good that people felt inspired by my party (!) even though I didn't do it for that purpose. It hadn't occured to me. I just wanted a chance to thank all those who helped my first year of "absorption" to be as smooth as it was: Sarah Beth and Ari, RivkA and Moshe, Beth and Simcha, Yael, Chava, Nefesh B'Nefesh, and of course Hashem. Plus I love it when my friends get to meet each other. So, knowing that it also turned out to be inspiring makes me feel really happy, like I gave something back to Israel.

(Also, a few people brought me presents! I love presents! Special mention to Sharonah R., who gave me a cactus plant so that I'll always have a real Sabra in my home.)

Last night there was a fundraiser in Jerusalem in which they had a special screening of Spiderman 2 and all proceeds went to help kids with cancer at Hadassah hospital. A whole lot of people from the English-speaking community in Katamon were there, including moi.

This movie is phenomenal. It is amazing. Even if you think you don't want to see it, you should see it.

It is also very, very scary. I was in the front row center (the annoyance of the evening: there were no assigned seats, and everything was taken by little kids, so I couldn't sit with my friends) and I'm sure that all my comrades from Katamon could see me up there with my hands over my eyes half the time. It's very violent but soooooo good. Because, in addition to the violence there's also a lot happening with the characters.

Now, a question for my fans: There was something at the end of the film I did not understand. Something that relates to Spidey 1. If you saw both films please contact me so I can ask you about it. There seems to be a lack of internal consistency, but maybe I'm missing something.

In other news: Tonight is my aliyah anniversary party!

Today's New York Times has this article about the rise in French immigration to Israel. The question raised in the article is: given that more Jews are moving from France to Israel, are they doing so because of anti-Semitism in France, or for other, less tangible, reasons?

I found this paragraph interesting:

Some Jewish leaders in France contend that the Jewish Agency has sent squads of "emissaries" to recruit Jews for aliyah, or the return to Israel. The agency denied the charge, saying that it has the same staff of eight recruiters and that they merely try to persuade Jews thinking of emigrating to the United States or Canada to consider Israel instead.

1. Assuming it is true that the Jewish Agency has the same number of recruiters as before, then the reporter missed out on asking a crucial question: Are more Jews leaving France, or are more Jews leaving France for Israel? If the same number of Jews are leaving France, but lately more of them are deciding to make aliyah, rather than go to North America, then obviously the anti-Semitism isn't a factor. The reporter would have done well to look into this.

2. Why is the assertion that the Jewish Agency is recruiting Jews for aliyah a "charge"? Did the unnamed Jewish leaders in France call it an accusation? Did the Jewish Agency take it as an accusation? Or did the reporter interpret it as an accusation?

If it was the French Jewish leaders, then why is Israel recruiting for immigrants a bad thing? Do they not support the idea of Aliyah? Are they afraid their community will disappear?

And shouldn't the correct response of the Jewish Agency be "well, hell yeah, we're recruiting. Israel needs more Jews to make aliyah, and France has a lot of Jews. Is there a problem?"

Knowing what I know about the Jewish Agency, there is almost definitely a long, ugly, political story behind this (unless the word "charge" reflects the reporter's interpretation of events, rather than actual events). From what I understand, Jewish communities, including often America's, are wary of the Jewish Agency going around recruiting Olim. Maybe it's because diaspora communities are afraid of taking mass aliyah to its logical conclusion: the shrinking of those same communities for those left behind.

But also, the Jewish Agency has a history of making Israel out to be a utopia to unsuspecting Jews in anti-semitic countries, such as the ones who came to Israel in the 1950's from Arab countries. If the French Jewish leaders were in fact making a "charge," it could be against the Jewish Agency's methods, not its function.


In any case, that paragraph left a few questions unanswered. I don't entirely blame the writer, because we're all human, but I would have at least expected that an editor at the Times would have asked my Question #1 and sent the writer back to find out the answer.

That's my 2 agurot for the day.

So I had this brilliant idea.

I called the singles' Shabbaton organizer (see details below about last weekend's Shabbaton) and told her that I'd like to invite some of the men and some of the women to my party this week. She called the people I specified, got permission to give me their numbers so I could invite them to a party, and gave me all the numbers. Pay dirt!

Among the people I invited were 3 women, 2 men I'd be interested in, and a few men that I'm not personally sooooo interested in, but they seemed nice, people change their minds, and if they aren't for me, maybe they'd be good for one of my girlfriends who would be at the party. Of course, I was also running the risk that one of the men I was interested in for myself would become interested in one of my friends. In fact, it is bound to happen. But I'm not one of those conniving people, like that. If they want my friends, then kol hakavod. Someone in this world should be happy.

Anyhow, remember that not one of these people have asked for my number, so the chances that any of them are seriously interested are slim. But, you know, I figured "maybe one of them is mildly interested, and my calling them will remind them of it, and grow the interest." My, how one will cling to the most tenuous of hopes. I felt so smooth for doing this in the context of a party, where they knew I was inviting several people and therefore couldn't assume that I was aggressively asking for a date. I was being pro-active, but not pushy.

Anyhow, I called them all today. Left messages for most of them. I did, however, reach two of the men in person.

One was the sweet-but-nerdy guy I sat next to during dinner on Friday night. The whole dinner. We talked for about an hour and half.

He did not remember who I was.

The other was the one guy from the Shabbaton on whom I had the biggest crush. The one I'd been flirting with, and who'd flirted back. The one who kept catching my eye during Seudat Shelishit, and we'd give each other an evil grin. The one I've thought about constantly for the past 6 days.

He didn't remember who I was, either.

If it weren't all so absurd, I'd be more hurt. But, thank God, I know this is not about me. I am very much a memorable person. I may not be gorgeous in the conventional sense. I may not be the most suave, or the best Hebrew speaker, or the best-dressed. But I am certainly memorable. Apparently, these guys found the other women memorable, too, so we cancelled each other out (and I don't bear a grudge. The other women there were very high quality people. I'm not jealous, just sad for all of us. Because most of them probably didn't get dates either. In fact, I know they didn't. One of my friends who also was there is usually a Veela, and no one from the Shabbaton asked her out, either.)

So it's not that this is denting my self-esteem, but it is denting my faith in the universe. In men. In the value of the 200 sheks I paid for that Shabbaton. Because, if you can spend a weekend flirting with people and eating meals with them and being your most charming, memorable self, and 6 days later they cannot match your name to your face, then this "shidduch crisis" runs deeper than I ever thought.

I just wanted to share with you that even now, 19 years later, I still remember all the words to the Color War song for my team at Camp Dexter.

Each team was a different country. I was in Scotland. This was our song (note that Camp Dexter has an "Upper Field" and a "Lower Field" . . . Ah, the memories of rolling down the green green grass, with narry a care . . . )

(to the tune of Loch Lomond)

We are Scottish lads, and we are Scottish lassies
And we are proud we're from Scotland!
Oh we'll play our best
Our Spirit says the rest
On the bonnie, bonnie fields of Mount Wally.

Oh, you take the high field and we'll take the low field
And Scotland will be victorious!
Our Teamwork and Spirit will help us win the games.
On the bonnie, bonnie fields of Mount Wally.

So Britney Spears is engaged, to a dancer named Kevin Federline. She seems to be following in the footsteps of Jennifer Lopez; she was married multiple times, too, and her second husband was also a dancer.

Federline, though, has this added attraction: He's expecting a baby with another woman. Which means that, at most, 8 or 9 months ago, he was seriously involved with this other woman (the pair have another child as well). Of Federline leaving her for Britney Spears, the first woman now says "You should never blame the other woman, never. There's life after Kevin, and I'm living it!"

Britney should take some hints from that.

All this reminds me that I never produced my promised manifesto on why Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck deserve each other. Too late now. She's moved on. You know, she left a serious relationship for Ben, too.

I wonder who payed for Britney's huge rock . . . probably not her fiancee . . . gee, do you think maybe he wants her money? (Gasp! Shock! Horror!)

I know that you don't have to have a lot of brains to be a famous pop star, but when it comes to relationships, Jennifer and Britney have nothing between their ears but a lot of "Oops I Did It Again."

It's amazing how easy it is for one to trick oneself.

Lately I've been feeling depressed. And I was blaming it on my job. "This is too stressful for me," I'd say. "I can't handle working in such a high-profile job. I can't handle having to find newsworthy stories every single week. I can't handle not having enough time to do the reporting I need to do. I miss freelancing. I want out." And then I'd feel really lousy, first because what kind of idiot gets a coveted job like the one I have and then doesn't like it? But moreso because I felt like a failure. Why can other people handle the pressures of being a reporter for a high-profile paper, and I can't?

But then I realized, this isn't about my work at all. Because really, it's not. First of all, for all the pressure I put on myself, and my feelings of inadequacy, neither my editor nor anyone else at the paper has given me any indication that they think I need to improve. It seems safe to say that they are generally happy with my work. Second, my editor happens to be one of the best bosses I've ever had. He's even-tempered, fairly consistent in his instructions (not always, but 90 percent), answers my phone calls, is polite to the employees, etc etc. Considering that he's a newspaper editor, these qualities are even more unusual for a boss! And third, yeah, it's a lot of work, but not so much that I couldn't have a life, if I were organized enough to have a life. The work is a lot, and stressful, but not so much that I should be feeling overwhelmed.

No, the problem is just that I'm depressed, and it's easier to blame my work than to confront all the other things in my life that I can't handle. There are other things that have been disappointing, and I haven't been taking care of myself. It's so easy to say "I'm not taking care of myself because I have too much work," but it's not true. I'm not taking care of myself because I'm just not.

In graduate school I took a class called "The Law and Mass Communication." It was basically about libel law and the right to privacy, taught in a most organized and fascinating fashion by Professor Stephen Solomon, who is truly one of the best university instructors out there.

Anyhow, the assignment for the big paper was to choose an actual, current, court case involving communications law and explain all the background for the case, the precedents that the judge might look at, etc etc. This involved lots of research in the NYU Law Library, which is both very beautiful and very full of religious Jewish men, so I didn't mind.

Being full up on libel and privacy information, I decided to choose a case on copyright and trademark infringment, instead. Mattel had recently launched a lawsuit against an artist named Tom Forsythe, who had created and sold a series of photos of Barbie dolls in, shall we say, compromising positions. Naked Barbies in a blender. Naked Barbies melting in a toaster oven. Naked Barbie bent over a martini glass with, um, an electric whisker, um, attacking her from the back. (The color appendices made my paper the most visually interesting of any in the class.)

So, Forsythe had made some disgusting photos making fun of Barbie and everything she stands for. They are crude and either very misogynist or very feminist, depending on what you think about Barbie dolls. They are anti-consumerist, weird . . . and don't sell well. He'd sold only a few thousand dollars worth of pictures. Who would put this up in their office? Meanwhile, Mattel, a company which apparently is run by a group of lawyers with electric whiskers up their . . . . well, anyway, with no sense of humor, slapped this no-name, bizarro artist with a heavy lawsuit.

It was obvious even to me, a lowly journalism student in a basic law class, that the case was frivolous. The Copyright Act is meant to protect you from those trying to make a buck off of copying your work, not those trying to make a buck off of making fun of your work. At the time, Judge Ronald Lew had denied Mattel's request for an injunction against the artist, indicating that he agreed with me. After the course ended, the judge ruled in favor of Forsythe, but the whole thing got appealed a few times. Mattel was being their self-rightous selves, and Forsythe wanted reimbursement for legal fees.

Well, it's all over now. My favorite part is where Judge Lew basically tells Mattel "your lawyers are idiots and you have poles up your . . . " Well.

Next week I'm throwing a party in honor of the one-year anniversary of my Aliyah and (so far) successful klitah. If you know me personally and didn't get the evite, drop me an email at chayyeisarah [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll send you one.

Well, the Shabbaton was a very nice event. The people were very normal, all the same age range and basic religious wavelength, and, for the most part, socially competent, which is an unusual combination. I enjoyed meeting the people, and the event was well-organized. Overall, a positive experience.

Will it lead to anything? Who knows. No one asked me for my phone number, but the organizers had announced that they'll help "connect" people after the Shabbaton, if anyone calls asking for other participants' phone numbers. And there wasn't much time between havdala and my departure from the event, as my ride was leaving.

So, who knows.

All I have to say is, after a year in Israel I've come to the conclusion that what they suggest in the movies is true: Men with French, Italian, or South American blood in them really do have a certain "it" quality.