Feel Better Friends Dolls

 Here are some of the dolls I made for Feel Better Friends, custom matching dolls for kids with significant health issues.  https://fbfdolls.org/

Random Photos of Some of my Judaica 

Covid quick and dirty matzah covers

Stars in the Sky, for Abraham’s tallit, hand dyed silk gauze, beads, embroidery in progress

Tallit for niece, parsha, Bamidbar embroidered 

The 4 Mamas

Creation, paper pieced

“I want the blessing hands, like a hug”. Matching mini tzitzitless tallit for bear, with paws, instead of hands 

Nephew’s name, intarsia

 

Bamidbar, Rashi said the tachash might be a unicorn, embroidered 

Sea monsters and cats! Days 4-7

More blessing hands

Creation paper pieced

Afikommen bag

More colors of the gauze

More Bamidbar bar dolphins

Blessing hands

Knitted lace Chuppah

Silk ribbon embroidery 

Stars in the sky in progress

Study time!

Week of April 17-23 not sure

TANAKH Isaiah 5-9

Alter’s Audio 

ex?

Isiah Ch 5 track 354

My highlight for Bo and the other stuff the rabbi suggested is, escaping Egypt was awfully violent.

My takeaway for Isaiah 1-4 is this is much more mild!  Even the doom and gloom has some hope in it. People being compared to deciduous trees with the leaves off, means that they will come back, just as the leaves do.

Week of April 10-16 Bo Ex 10:1-13:16

TANAKH Isaiah 1-4

Alter’s Audio

Ex ch 10 Track 65

Isaiah Ch 1 track 349

My highlight for Metzora is mold can be dangerous and they figured this out a very, very long time ago.

My takeaway for 2 Kings 19-25 is the editor of the Bible was really working hard to come up with a rational reason for the Babylonian exile.  Having a fabulous king’s son be the exact opposite, as if his father had taught him nothing is quite the stretch.  Especially after all the people had just enthusiastically agreed to follow Deuteronomy. 

Week of April 3-9 Metzora Lev 14:1-15:33

TANAKH 2Kings 19- Introduction of Isaiah

Alter’s Audio

Lev ch 14 track 110

2 Kings ch 19 track 341

My highlight for Tzara the rabbis were terrified of women’s ability to create life.

My takeaway for 2Kings 10-18 is the Bible thinks that bad kings make the people bad, or at least punished. But do good people make for good kings? It’s not clear.

Week of March 27–April 2 Tazria Lev 12:1-13:59

TANAKH 2 Kings 10-18

Alter’s Audio

Lev Ch 12 track 108

2 Kings ch 10 track 332

My highlight for Shmini is WTF? There wasn’t any information  about what wasn’t allowed vs what was. 

My takeaway for 2 Kings 1-9 is Israel and Judah share a religion…except when they don’t, don’t share rulers, but really like their shared prophets!

Week of March 20-26 Shmini Lev 9:1-11:47

TANAKH 2 Kings 1-9 

Alter’s Audio

Lev ch 9 track 105

2 Kings ch 1 track 323

My highlight for Tzav is lots of rules, no wonder the priests need the 2nd tithe, they need some vegetables.

 My takeaway for 1 Kings 13-22 is there are SO MANY northern kings, who can’t keep focused for more than a minute at a time.  It’s pretty clear why the book is called Kings!

Week of March 13-19 Tzav, Leviticus 6:1-8:36

TANAKH  1 Kings Ch 13-22. Here comes Elijah!

Alter’s audio

Lev ch 6 track 102

1 Kings ch 13 track 313

My highlight for Vayikra If you do something by accident, you are still responsible.

My takeaway for 1 Kings 3-12 Why does G-d rewrite David’s history?  He really wasn’t consistently good!

Week of March 6-12 Vayikra, Leviticus 1:1-5:26

TANAKH  1 Kings Ch 3-12. Gonna read about Solomon and the baby!

Alter’s audio

Lev track 96-101, intro

1 Kings ch 3 track 303

My highlight for Pekudei was a lot of directions and not a lot of information that would let you actually build the stuff..  But, I still want to make pomegranates pompons.

Takeaway for end David & beginning of Kings.  The Prophets really should be called Murder and Mayhem. But, I finally understand why David is revered, despite the killings and raping/wife stealing. He consolidated the kingdom.  He also showed intelligence and restraint in dealing with Saul, and when fighting would work and when doing it smarter not bigger would work, most obviously with Goliath, but more subtly all over the place. I still don’t *like* him, but I sort of understand.  

I looked up Tamar daughter of David in my Big Book of Midrashim.  No stories!  I expected some, like what happened to her after, but, nope.

Week of Feb 27-5.  We will read Pekudei, Exodus 38:21-40:38

TANKAKH I’m finishing 2nd Samuel 21-24, Alter’s intro to Kings, and ch 1-2. End of David, beginning of Solomon.  I hope Solomon is a better King than Samuel, although being worse is always possible, he would certainly have to work at it!

Alter’s audio

Ex 38:21 Middle of track 93

2nd Sam ch 21 track 296

Kings intro track 300

1 Kings Ch 1 301

Vayakhel highlight: I like Bezalel. I never really noticed him before.  We don’t see a lot of just plain good, hardworking, constructive people!  Too much sexism, but the women were valued a little, for once.

Zurizut (Mussar Commentary talks about it) would make a great name for a working dog!

TANAKH takeaway What on earth was David searching for? Power? To do exactly what with it? Why did he do nothing about his son the incestuous rapist?

And this week of February 20-26, 2022, it’s time to read Parasha Vayakhel, Exodus 35:1-38:20.  

My TANAKH reading is Samuel 2, chapters 11-20, inclusive

The Robert Alter TANAKH audio is track 286

The high light, for me, of Ki Tisa, When you take a Census, is G-d and Moses both had tantrums over the Israelites’ completely predictable behavior.  How about setting people up to succeed, not fail, hmmm? 

My takeaway for Samuel 2 chapters 1-10 was civil war isn’t really any better.

 Librivox

I listen to books on librivox.  Most of the readers are adequate, but, oh, my are some HORRIBLE!  There is one woman, a non-native English speaker, whose English sounds like it’s excellent…in person.  But as a narrator?  Nope.  Just, no.  In at least every other sentence, she mispronounces a word.  At least one per paragraph makes me have to pause to figure out what it was.  I can get used to all Vs pronounced W.  Rs swallowed, stuff like that.  But boding isn’t bodding.   Bough is bouw, not boug.

I can not recommend Search for the Castaways, by Jules Berne.  

Librivox absolutely refuses to do any curation.

Map of the Nautilus

 My estimate of the route of the Nautilus in Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas.

Pink pins are the latitudes and and longitude coordinates mentioned in the book.

Purple pins are my estimates of where the Nautilus is based in descriptions.

Green pins are suggestions of the route taken between points avoid land masses.

Teal pins are when only one coordinate is given, and I guessed at the other.

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Spinning wheel

 My little road bug spinning wheel, Pandora