comjudiamadrid.org

The Moken

jonnyd — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:09:09 +0000

The Jewish people suffered terribly at the hands of the Catholic Church in Spain. They were often told to move on.They had to give up their homes and land and go to any spot in the Kingdom that they thought would not persecute them. Many converted to Christianity to avoid religious persecution. These convertees were often viewed with suspicion and many times fared no better than those jews who remained true to their religion.

In Thailand the Moken people are discriminated against. They are normally wrong called Sea Gypsies. The term Sea Gypsy is a term that applies to any people who roam the seas much of the time

The Moken originally came from Malaysia. They were forced out of their villages about 300 years ago because of political persecution. They took to the seas in small boats and gradually moved up to Thailand and Burma.

The Moken have not only their own language but also culture and religion. Those Moken that have settled around Phuket and Khao Lak have been subjected to attempts to assimilate them into mainstream Thai life. The Queen visited a Moken village and gave them Thai surnames. While schools seek to educate the children they are also encouraged by their teachers to abandon their animistic religion and adopt Buddhism.

In the Gulf of Thailand there are a few Moken. Some have settled on Koh Paluay in the Ang Thong National Marine Park. Here they are free to pursue their natural life styles. They are, however, subject to the polluting influence of tourist groups who come out to buy souvenirs, cold drinks and to photograph the ‘Sea Gypsies’.

Just as what happened to the Jews in Spain in the late 1400s was wrong, so the way the Moken are being treated in today in Thailand is wrong.

Spiritually and Financially Sound

bfh9352 — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:04:00 +0000

These days a 401k calculator can let you get a good idea of where you may stand in the years to come. Since there are many that are available on-line for free you can be sure to plan ahead for retirement. You can simply understand and taken into consideration the amount you do contribute, employer matching, inflation and what the balance can be years down the road. This tool is a smart way to plan and save money for your future in today’s world.

What is a 401k calculator? Well, it’s basically a tool that you may use to calculate where you are going to stand years in the future. You can find out whatever you may accumulate from your own and employers contributions and make up for inflation. You’re able to even find out what it might be if you do increase of decrease what you put in it. Simple, yet useful for those planning ahead.

Helping you plan for retirement and get an outlook of the future of your savings account. This is not only a smart way to plan for retirement, but you can see how your account can grow over the years. All you need to do is put in such information as your current yearly pay, the amount you contribute, what is matched by your employer and what you may put in in the future. For your future planning it’s not only going to go a long way to help you make the right decision, but make sure you have that nest egg when retirement arrives.

Using an on-line calculator is one of the best tools for creating your own secure retirement in the years to come. You need to have some basic assumptions such as: your current salary, number of years until retirement and any increase in salary. Then plug in the current balance, contribution amount and then how you receive your pay. This then, gives you an ideal glimpse of what to expect down the road tomorrow.

What should you contribute to your account on a yearly basis? Well, of course this can be based upon what you are comfortable with and the total of your salary that you receive. Take into consideration as well, if your employer does match or contribute to your plan as well. There are some that do this. It’s a good idea to put in only what you are comfortable with and does not conflict with your monthly budget.

For those that wish to ensure they have a good idea of what to expect down the road, then planning can go a long way to do just that. When you plan what contributions you are making and the amount may increase it to over the year, then you are sure to have a good outlook of what your account may hold once you do reach retirement.

Where to look to calculate your future savings for your account? It’s quite easy to find a variety of calculators that are available right on-line. This way you not only can project what can be in the years to come, you may even take into consideration wage increases or increases in contributions.

Today using a 401k calculator can be a great way to plan for retirement and manage your account over the years. This tool let’s you easily and quickly calculate your contributions, employer contributions, salary increase, inflation and much more. So you may get a good idea of what you can end up with that can give you an idea of what to expect. Not only is planning for retirement a wise thing to do, but using this tool can let you do so effectively.

Refrigerator Buying – Spanish And English Resources

theadmin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:44:36 +0000

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to know what are some of the most standard refrigerator sizes without taking into consideration refrigerator dimensions. Below I address the information relating to this in English. For a Spanish translation please visit this ’medidas de refrigeradores’ site, which is targeted for buyers of refrigerators in Spain and Latin America.

While it is true that the refrigeration industry today showcases a great selection of refrigerator units in various sizes and dimensions, most of these technical specifications are heavily dependent on the type of fridge, and in most cases, the kind of refrigeration brand.

Here are some of the standard refrigerator sizes according to the most common fridge types.

Side by side

This fridge model is characterized by a two-door style, the left wing intended for fresh food compartment and the right wing for freezer compartment and vice versa. Side by side refrigerators have specific dimensions based on the configuration, namely freestanding, counter depth, and built in. Height: 66 to 84 inches / Width: 32 to 48 inches / Depth: 23 to 30 inches.

Compact and undercounter fridge

Compact fridge units are small fridges and space efficient, and they greatly vary. The configuration for mini fridges is not included here. Height: 19 to 35 inches / Width: 17 to 24 inches / Depth: 13 to1 8 inches.

Top freezer refrigerator

Top freezer is a common fridge type, with the freezer mounted on top. Height: 61 to 69 inches / Width: 28 to 36 inches / Depth: 25 to 28 inches.

Bottom freezer refrigerator

The complete opposite of top freezers, with the freezer mounted on the bottom of the fridge. The technical dimensions for bottom freezer design depend on configuration: freestanding, counter depth or built-in. Height: 66 to 84 inches / Width: 29 to 36 inches / Depth: 23 to 30 inches

French door bottom freezer refrigerator

This is the most luxurious fridge model that can be had in freestanding, counter depth or built in styles. Height: 68 to 71 inches / Width: 33 to 48 inches / Depth: 23 to 30 inches

Talk topics with Jewish girls on online dating sites

datingsites — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:54:04 +0000

Jewish women girls might be different, and so is every girl out there, so no need to treat them very differently. A girl is a girl, even with staunch religious beliefs they still love the simple things in life. Jewish dating is centered on their religious customs and beliefs, and this you should understand. Most of their daily activities revolve around doing what the Torah teaches them and most of them might get difficult when you want to divert them from that. Religious conviction and religious beliefs play a major role in Jewish dating, just as it does in Christianity, Hinduism, or Islam. To search for a Jewish girl in France or Canada, I would suggest to first try your luck with free dating sites by looking for: rencontre gratuit, one can find more singles online before going over to the Jewish dating sites. The reason you should first try free dating sites (sites de rencontre) is because you can also search for religion within the free dating sites and then choose “Jewish” as religion. If this does not deliver good enough quality of Jewish girls I recommend you to move on to paid Jewish dating sites (and yes, sometimes you do also need to pay to find love. Oh, I do love the irony as all of us Jewish people have with paying and always trying to go for the cheapest option as possible).

When chatting with a Jewish girl on dating sites as matzodate.com, jewishsinglescanada.com, and Jsingles.com, you can start on inquiring about her religion and its beliefs. You might be surprised to learn that, even with such religious beliefs, some of them have a completely different view of life. This will give you a stepping-stone towards your next conversation. One thing you should not do is trying hard, keeping and unprejudiced attitude is good and will help you divert fast enough when your conversation is leading you two nowhere. Politely disclose your religion to her, and then inquire more about her. If yours is different, she might want to know more about your faith and this will keep the clock hand ticking. You must also learn to remain neutral and conservative during your first chatting session on dating sites. No one wants to hear another talking bad about their beliefs. Do not mock religious symbols and artifacts that come with Jewish religion or any other in that matter. Instead, inquire more about them. The best way to do this is to understand some of their religious symbols before you meet the girl. Sometimes this help in keeping you calm, if she will have to come with some of them on her wrist or neck. One thing about women is that they love romance. You can create a slow romantic scene, by asking her what her religion thinks about sex and marriage. In most religions, sex before marriage is never accepts and you can get her deeper understanding of the phrase. There are romantic Jewish literatures which you can quote or ask about when your get to this topic. There are Jewish dating sites you can find these Jewish girls, and you getting them on these sites gives an impression that they are looking for love not some religious lectures.

Meeting Jewish Girls Online

leningen — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:26:10 +0000

Jewish dating sites are common today and it is up to you if you want to find Jewish girls to be keen. Jewish people have their religion and culture and therefore, it should be put into consideration while searching for Jewish date online. In the USA and UK there are many Jewish dating sites but in smaller countries such as Belgium it is much more difficult to find a good dating site that has many Jewish singles on it. Even though Antwerp (one of the largest cities in Belgium) has a very strong Jewish community, there is not a good Jewish dating site. The site that does have a good and large amount of Jewish single men and women is match4me that focuses on meeting higher educated people. In my honest opinion for Jewish people, Match 4 Me can be considered as a semi Jewish dating site.

Although it is not bad in any way to date people from other cultures but one may find they are attracted to their own kind. When looking for Jewish girls online there are several things you have to observe. Impressing a girl is very important in being able to find a date online and this can be viewed from the profile they have put up. In a pro Jewish dating site, you will find that they also value their religion and culture. Therefore, it is good to be respectable in Jewish dating site while looking for a soul mate. The dating site, such as match4me, will mostly have a matchmaking trusted third party something that is borrowed from their traditions. This happens because traditional Jewish singles had a third party find for them a partner rather than picking one by themselves. You will note that, Jewish sites screen personal information very carefully and value respect for women. If you want to win a Jewish girl you have to be someone who respects women and values their worth.

In Jewish dating, the man looking for a girl should initiate the get together once a connection has been created online. The man should be great and there is no need to be rude or aggressive if the girl you want does not want to meet yet. Meeting Jewish girls online should be easy and once you meet maintain the same connection you had online to make the moments more pleasurable. Allow yourself to be natural while with your new date and this will allow you to make a stronger connection with your partner. This should be a great moment to know each other better for the future. In order to connect with a Jewish girl, uphold their religion and don’t assume since it is an online dating you can ignore such things. Jewish children respect their family very much and it would be important to show respect for the girl’s family. A matchmaker (and with online dating match 4 me can be considered as the best intermediate matchmaker) may be involved and being on their good side will help you a lot in winning the family’s heart. Jewish dating sites observe strict registration details to ensure quality services to the online users.

Olive Oil from Spain

theadmin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:48:06 +0000

Over the past few years olive oil has been gaining wider and wider acceptance among the food elite both in the United States as well as abroad. Spain is of course, one of the largest and best producers of olive oil in the world.

Since ancient times, the Spanish countryside has grown native olive trees. That oil has been used for religious markings in the Catholic Church almost since the beginning and is featured prominently in the Bible itself (both the New and Old Testament).

Now, that hand made high end oil is finally finding its way to our kitchen tables where we all will continue to enjoy the massive health benefits from olive oil, which is actually nothing more than a condensed fruit juice!

Religious Proscriptions Regarding Food

jonnyd — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:25:24 +0000

I’m Jewish, but I’m not particularly devout. The problem with a lot of religious proscriptions, especially those concerned with food is that they make no sense in today’s modern world. They may have done so hundreds of years ago, but times have moved on. If only it were possible for religions to move on to.

In some instances they have. For example, the Anglican church now accepts female Bishops and ordains gay marriages. This piece of forward thinking has torn the church in two with many African Anglican congregations in open revolt with their English counterparts.

Jews are not supposed to eat pork. It is an ‘unclean’ meat. It apparently has no nutritional value. Maybe 2,500 years ago pigs passed diseases onto people. Much less do today. And I’m sure there is nutritional value to eating pork, ham, bacon etc. Besides it tastes good.

Jews are also not supposed to eat shell food. That is a harder prohibition to fathom the reason for. It turns out it was a hygienic rule. When human refuse was flushed straight out to the sea crustaceans that live in coastal regions would feed on this sewage. Consequently, eating these crustaceans would make people sick. It is clear that humans derived this law from observation, not from listening to God. Now thanks to modern sewage disposal systems, shell food is safe to eat. It has lots of protein, and again tastes good.

It is a good job that the early Jews didn’t travel down to the equator or farther south, otherwise they might have come up with bizarre regulations concerning the poor health benefits of coconut milk or the dangers of eating bananas on the Sabbath.

I believe in identity and the connection with culture. I’m not ashamed of coming from Judaic stock. My descendants have given many wonderful things to world culture. However, their outdated ideas about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ food is not one of their better contributions.

Importance of religion in our lives

peterdorthmouth — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:35:36 +0000

One aspect of our lives that will always remain significant, no matter what happens is our belief. This belief is the mere essence of our living. As a matter of fact, it is this belief that defines us, our values and our personality to a great extent. The belief, I’m talking about here, is our religion. Yes, whether you agree or you don’t, it is the religion that drives our lives.

Religion plays a very essential role in our lives. It reflects our true identity and it mirrors our inner beliefs. While religions might differ, I believe that this difference is quite superficial. The core principles and the spirit of every religion majorly remains the same. Whether it is Christianity, Judaism or Islam; every religion speaks about fostering brotherhood and spreading peace. If that’s really the case, it makes me wonder why certain religions are blamed for things that go wrong in the society.

But then I realize that in fact, it is not the religion that is blamed here. It is its followers (or the non-followers, I should say) who are blamed. Religion is something that binds people spiritually. It is a thing of the mind. Religion, in these terms, is quite similar to technology. Technology is often blamed for creating nuclear bomb that caused widespread destruction. On the other hand, it is quite appreciated too for making life simpler by innovating products like the a wheat grass juicer. To state this more clearly, it is the people who make use of technology. Hence, it is these people who are responsible and not technology. Similar is the case with religion. It is what you believe it to be.

The Road Rage of a Peaceful Person

nancy — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:30:58 +0000

There once was a time when I thought there would be peace on the Earth. That one people at a time we could solve all the problems of this world and grow to love one another. I am a good church going guy who loves his mama and the Lord. I follow their rules and listen to their teachings. I thought I was on the right path.

That is until some guy in a little sports car cut me off in the middle of rush hour. He must have thought the 17 extra inches between me and the car in front of me could fit him and the vehicle but he was wrong. If I had not slammed on the brakes and swerved over we would have been in an accident for sure.

The last thing I wanted to do was fill out traffic accident claims and I even shouted out a few curse words and shook my fist at him. It was then I realized peace on Earth was going to be much harder than.

The Lesson from the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain

nancy — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:28:44 +0000

Maybe it is my due to my ignorance or the education system, but I had never known about the presence of Jews in Spain. The presence of this fact nearly gave me whiplash.

Spain has been a country filled with Catholics. But a Jewish community did form there. Ultimately the Catholic Kings expelled the Jews from the country they once inhabited. But even now there are plenty of monuments in Spain that comes from the Jewish community that once was there.

But this example of my unawareness of this history definitely says something about how we teach peace in school, particularly when discussing the different religions and the wars that come with the fights between two religious groups. With all the tension in the world today, within our country and beyond our shores, stories like the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 can present history to us that can inform change for the future.