The Vote

I took walk this afternoon by Trump Tower on Fifth Ave in NYC. I usually try to stay away from politically opinionated rants. But this past election and the resultant reaction is just too much. Even so, I don't have much patience. The  uneducated seem to think that because Hillary won a small percentage advantage in the popular vote, she deserves to be called President, and that not to do so would be a perversion of our democracy. Of course, if it had been the other way around and Trump had won that advantage in the popular vote but lost the electoral college vote, these selfsame righteous liberals would be totally mute.

So for the great unwashed, here's a video to explain why our founding fathers (that would be Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison) set up the Constitutional system of elections the way they did. And grow up!

Pre-Upsherin

Yesterday's post was the event.

Another young lad today. His upsherin is later this month. I had the opportunity this past weekend to photograph him with long hair. I'll post the 'after' shots at a later date.

Upsherin

A Jewish boy's third birthday is the first milestone of his life. For the first three years he takes in all the sights and sounds around him, and his parent's loving care. He's a receiver. But at age three, he becomes a producer and becomes ready to share his unique gifts. For the first three years, his hair is allowed to grow without cutting. On his third birthday, friends and family are invited to a hair cutting ceremony, in Yiddish it's called an upsherin. From here on, the boy wears a kippah and tzitzit (ritual fringes) and is slowly trained to recite blessings and the Shema (the most important words in Judaism). He begins his Jewish education and the world begins to benefit from him.