What is Passover?

Its Passover time! So, what is Passover and why is is celebrated?



Passover is a holiday about freedom from slavery and ultimate redemption. It is based upon the story of the Ancient Israelites' redemption from slavery in Egypt through Moses.

Today Passover is celebrated by observant Jews, and an increasing number of Christians, who are trying to return to the roots of their faith. If you read the Gospel accounts, Passover is the holiday during which Jesus was crucified. To Christians, Passover is the celebration of ultimate redemption from slavery to your own sin.

How is Passover celebrated?
The central focal point of Passover is the Seder, a dinner during which the story of redemption from Egypt is told. This is very important to Jews, as it assures continuation of the story to the next generation. According to tradition, the Hagaddah (book used to tell the story) uses "we" because each generation is to view itself in the story.

During the week of Passover, called the Feast of Unleavened bread, only bread made without yeast, called Matzah, is eaten. This is because the Israelites fled so fast that they only had flour, and could not make the usual fermented bread products. Part of preparing for Passover includes removing all yeast and bread products from the house. This outward cleansing also serves to remind us of introspection, and removing sins and negative influences from our own lives.

Even if you don't celebrate Passover, there is still a lot that can be learned from this story. 

Hag SameaH!

If at first you don't succeed. . .

So, I've been trying to learn to do henna for awhile now. My first attempts were hideous! No really, they were.I have provided no pictures to document the disastrous results.

Since then, I've practiced sporadically and I'm actually getting better.
Some of my first designs were not so great. Take a look here if you want to see what I'm talking about.

I recently ordered a Moroccan henna syringe and some better quality henna from FreeHandMehndi.  
The syringe is a little tricky to figure out at first, but I think I like it better than rolling cones. Its easy to clean and pretty easy to draw with once you get the hang of it. The only downside is that seems to accumulate pressure occasionally and the henna just keeps flowing out. I like it better than cones though, because I always seem to get leaks in my cone at the top.

So, here are the designs that I did this weekend:

I did these on Friday, then used some of the extra henna to shade parts of it on Saturday. Overall, I am pretty happy with the results. I wasn't able to leave the paste on all night, but this was the color I got after about 4 hrs. Oh, and if you're wondering how I hennaed the tops of both hands, I am somewhat ambidextrous.

Saturday night I got invited to a Somali wedding party for a girl in our ESL program. I got to dress some of the other teachers up in dirac and show them off to the Somali community. I was surprised by how many people I already know in the community here. There were also some girls who recognized me from the You Tube video and had me take pictures with them :-)

The only downside to the night was that I was stuck with Layla because my husband was working at 6am on Sunday. They didn't even serve the food until 12:30 a.m. and we took off immediately after.
I consider myself a night person, but I fail miserably by Somali standards!

Layla was causing me issues, but I was still able to get a few pics during the wedding. Here are me and some of the other teachers with a couple of our ESL student friends

Mommy Visit

Wow, I haven't updated in a long time! I've just been lazy since my mom was here and left.
We had the best weather most of the time she was here, so we got to take advantage of being outside a lot.
I am trying to convince my parents to move here when my dad retires, so part of my job is to make Portland very appealing when compared to where they live now. It doesn't take much!

Layla enjoyed a lot of time in the stroller while we did mini-hikes around the city and various buttes (small extinct volcanoes). While we were up on Mt. Tabor Layla walked straight uphill for probably a whole mile herself. She took a great nap that afternoon!

Layla got really used to having her grandma around, and it was hard for all of us when she left. Layla still goes in her room and asks why grandma isn't there anymore. Then she will say "Grandma, far away." I really hope that changes someday and she is able to come live with us.

We also had some great Ethiopian food at a place called Bete Lukas. The food was great, and I actually got to enjoy it because Layla was good for almost the entire time. I used to hate going to restaurants with her because she would never let me eat. My mom also got to meet some of my Somali friends, and even got some henna done by one of them the night before she left.

In other news, I am actually going to apply with an agency to do Somali medical interpreting part-time. I have a friend who does it, and she is convinced that my Somali is good enough.

I'll write more about that later.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Fatwa Against Terrorism?

From the Jerusalem Post:
(no ad-hominem attacks based upon where I got the article will be tolerated in the comments. Be mature, and stick to the content of the article)

Sheikh Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri, a widely recognized and respected authority on Islamic jurisprudence, will issue a comprehensive fatwa prohibiting terrorism and suicide bombing at a press conference in Westminster, centralLondon. (Link to full text of article)

The Pakistani-born Dr. Qadri has authored an unprecedented, 600-page fatwa on why suicide bombings and terrorism are un-Islamic and scripturally forbidden. The ruling is the most comprehensive theological refutation of Islamist terrorism to date.

The fatwa will also be posted on the Internet and in English, making it readily accessible. It will also set an important precedent and allow other scholars to similarly condemn the ideas behind terrorism.

Dr. Qadri has used texts in the Koran and other Islamic writings to argue that suicide and other terrorist attacks are “absolutely against the teachings ofIslam” and that “Islam does not permit such acts on any excuse, reason or pretext.”

The fatwa condemns suicide bombers as destined for hell, refuting the claim used by Islamists that such terrorists will earn paradise after death."

So what do you guys think? Can such a fatwa be an effective step to eliminating suicide attacks in the name of Islam? 

I am somewhat skeptical of their effectiveness since there are still shiekhs that openly support suicide bombing.

I think it is important to support Sh. Qadri and others like him because they are trying to do something tangible to educate Muslims and change the face of Islam. We also need to support organizations that are providing education and support to Muslims in desperate economic situations. These people are the most likely to be indoctrinated to join extremist movements. 

My Mommy is Coming!

I am so excited! Did February seem to go by fast for anyone else?

My mom is coming to stay with us for 10 days starting tomorrow night.
She works, but my dad's pay takes care of all the bills, so she decided to save it for a good cause: Seeing her granddaughter :-)

 

My mom and Layla last August

We don't have any huge plans for the time she is here. We're kinda broke, so most of our ideas are things that are either cheap or free. We would like to do a little hiking and stuff outside if the weather holds out. Some other ideas I had were to get henna done, eat Ethiopian food,and go to the Zoo. She'll also be accompanying us to tutoring day to help with the ESL students' kids.

My long term plan is to get my mom to totally fall in love with it here and get her and my dad out of the Midwest as soon as he retires. I think he has at least 5 more years though :-(


Any other suggestions of fun things to do with my mom and Layla?

Israeli Ambassador at UC Irvine

The following blog post is from garyfouse.blogspot.com


There were several hundred people in the audience, most of whom were from the local Jewish community. They were mostly older folks. The speech was sponsored by the local Jewish Federation, Hillel and several other organizations. As expected the Muslim Student Union also showed up. It was obvious even before the start of the speech that they were going to stage some sort of protest. Half of them sat on the left and half on the right.

A few moments into Ambassador Oren's speech, an MSU protester stood up and began shouting insults at the ambassador. He was removed by campus police. And so it continued. After the first interruption, the moderator, a UCI political science professor, took the microphone to admonish the disruptors. Yet, it did not stop. After about the 5th such disruption and removal, the ambassador left the room and Chancellor Michael Drake addressed the audience pleading for civility.

When the ambassador returned, the disruptions continued. Each time, a protester was removed, the audience become increasingly angry and voiced their displeasure at the disruptors. They also voiced their displeasure at Chancellor Drake and demanded to know what was going to be done to the disrupting students. (Of course, at this point, there is a question as to whether the disruptors were actually students who could be disciplined.) The audience was clearly not pleased with Chancellor Drake's pleas for civility. Cries of "what are you going to do about it?" were heard in the audience.


After the 10th such interruption, the MSU got up as a group and left the hall, screaming insults at the ambassador, who nevertheless managed to complete his speech as the MSU gathered out on the street outside and continued their protest, their chants barely audible inside the hall. The disruptions and delays precluded any hope of having a Q&A, which was the original plan.

Here is my reaction to the speech. First of all, the performance of the Muslim Student Union was despicable. To disrupt a speech by an ambassador of any nation is a diplomatic incident in and of itself. That this happened on the UCI campus is a major embarrassment for the university. One can only hope that criminal charges will be filed, which I understand will be the case. If any of the individual protesters are UCI students, I can only hope they will be expelled. (Don't hold your breath.)

Secondly, the Muslim Student Union not only did a disservice to their (pro-Palestinian) cause, but they did a disservice to themselves as Muslims. What they projected to the audience was not only that they did not respect free speech, but they projected a negative image of themselves as Muslims. In that respect, they did a disservice to those Muslims who are trying to live peacefully and assimilate into American society. This bunch, however, sent a message that they are apart from American society.

In addition, they refused to accord the right of free speech and the right of the audience to hear a message because they don't like it. I have been attending MSU-sponsored events for several years now at UCI and listened to a lot of hate speech-words that Ambassador Oren never engaged in. I have never interrupted or disrupted a speech no matter how offensive it was, nor have I witnessed anyone else do so. If the MSU had differences with the Israeli ambassador, they could have asked him their questions during the Q&A, as I always do. Instead, they acted like barbarians and cemented an unfortunate stereotype that hurts all Muslims. (As I write, the OC Register on-line report is burning up with comments, and they are not very complimentary to the protestors.)

Perhaps, the biggest mistake the MSU committed was showing a local audience that there really IS a problem at UCI, in spite of all the denials by the administration and unfortunately, even some Jewish groups like the local Orange County Jewish Federation, who sponsored the event. The audience members will take this experience home and tell others what is really going on at UCI. Tonight, the truth came out.
 
-Repost from garyfouse.blogspot.com

My own thoughts? I agree with the portions of Mr. Fouse's article that I have highlighted. Free speech does not mean screaming at the top of your lungs to prevent someone else from having the same right. These protesters could have staged a peaceful protest outside and handed out informational pamphlets to demonstrate their viewpoint.

Yes, there is a lot of suffering among the Palestinians, but heckeling a speaker from Israel is not the way to help them. Go give to a charity that provides education and humanitarian aid instead.

If the MSU had a pro-Palestinian speaker come to the school, I doubt that Hillel would have reacted so venomously.

Grandmas are the Best!

Layla and I found a surprise when we went out to check the mail.
A package, just for her.

From her grandma Linda

What could it be?

Her very own laptop!


If you lived with us, you'd understand why this is the perfect gift. We don't own a TV, and are on our laptops a lot. Layla is always taking mine so she can push keys and see what happens.

Thanks Grandma! She loves it!