tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81488657116035191272024-03-13T01:47:54.962-07:0021st Century BogatyrA bogatyr is a folk or epic hero in Russian culture known for his wits, courage, physical and spiritual power and integrity - character traits that we can certainly use today.21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.comBlogger120125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-37293361419374752672023-12-06T13:42:00.000-08:002023-12-12T03:04:15.218-08:00Moishe Pipik Flies to the Moon, Seeks His Fortune & Has Lots of Adventures <p> </p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">by Zvi Baranoff </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It was a very long time ago and very far away. In a shtetl called Brooklyn there lived a small boy named Moishe Pipik. Moishe Pipik was a good lad. He was smart and creative. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Although Moishe Pipik was an only child, he lived in a very crowded apartment. The apartment was situated in a crowded tenement building on a busy street in the very heart of Brooklyn. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZgi-h_r9tYqttcEAtu1Z1-Ck5dN7gIt63Ryia0XoRBjXETMzFna2hmmMJ4sh0oZgWGFsU2fAoF3MDLodfiUgksKckfZuof9EN3LEccXOQx6snq9AvtEOff9Ke0dyLCjijbFM5eY8w7f9Kn8iBZS3I-mbUaP9UJU_GIKLy7e1kxR9hf1CEaEMG6hAcNFx7/s225/images%20(6).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZgi-h_r9tYqttcEAtu1Z1-Ck5dN7gIt63Ryia0XoRBjXETMzFna2hmmMJ4sh0oZgWGFsU2fAoF3MDLodfiUgksKckfZuof9EN3LEccXOQx6snq9AvtEOff9Ke0dyLCjijbFM5eY8w7f9Kn8iBZS3I-mbUaP9UJU_GIKLy7e1kxR9hf1CEaEMG6hAcNFx7/s1600/images%20(6).jpeg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The apartment was small but maybe it wouldn't have felt so crowded if he lived there with just his parents. However, besides Moishe Pipik and his parents, his Bubbe, his mother's mother, also lived in that small apartment. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Even with his grandmother sleeping in the “spare” bedroom, the apartment might have felt merely cramped but the apartment was always far more crowded than that. It seemed that there were always some extra relatives staying there. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There were always some family members going through a difficult stretch, between jobs and without a place of their own. Sometimes there were several relatives staying at once. They slept on the couch, in the bathtub, and on the kitchen floor. Sometimes there would be a “guest” sharing his bed. A small child might be sleeping in the bottom drawer of his dresser. In the summer, a person or two slept on the fire escape.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Both of Moishe Pipik's parents worked a lot. His father was at a job six days a week. His mother “took in” clothes to repair, besides all the cooking and cleaning involved in maintaining the home. She had learned to sew from her father, who had earned his living as a tailor among other endeavors. Moishe Pipik's mother often worked late into the night, sometimes falling asleep at the sewing machine that she had inherited from her father. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiEGSZVpdJqGessmAE8n41QP0cuZYxBP2djvj37x9b9QP-iKwUbDoj2cXDcrO6VCX3G9FEv6NrcWW5IW4gae3ketbYbi0rc2RiB7coJ2LXe_rV7JwS9_rxgPTp35qHWZtwn4o4lUv3U3ryvBdl04P6hr7jsQp1mmanrbXeW_DHsocuUuHt18OdL_LHIjXp/s1875/Unusual-1906-antique-SINGER-Treadle-Sewing-pic-1A-2048_10.10-00000000-f.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1875" data-original-width="1875" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiEGSZVpdJqGessmAE8n41QP0cuZYxBP2djvj37x9b9QP-iKwUbDoj2cXDcrO6VCX3G9FEv6NrcWW5IW4gae3ketbYbi0rc2RiB7coJ2LXe_rV7JwS9_rxgPTp35qHWZtwn4o4lUv3U3ryvBdl04P6hr7jsQp1mmanrbXeW_DHsocuUuHt18OdL_LHIjXp/s320/Unusual-1906-antique-SINGER-Treadle-Sewing-pic-1A-2048_10.10-00000000-f.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It really couldn't be said that Moishe Pipik's parents neglected him. They assured that he got all of the things that he really needed such as his daily meals and his weekly baths. Moishe Pipik's parents did truly love him.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What they couldn't provide the boy was all of the attention that he craved nor all of the things on his endless list of wishes and desires. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The other relatives filling the apartment to overflowing helped fill that void as far as his desires beyond absolute need was concerned. The neighborhood, as well, was crowded with people that were almost as nosy, loud and boisterous as his relatives. These neighbors watched out for Moishe Pipik, almost as if they were family. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Of all the relatives that frequently encamped at the family's apartment, often for weeks or months at a time, Uncle Morrie and Aunt Fannie were Moishe Pipik's favorites. Uncle Morrie was his mother's younger brother. Aunt Fannie, as near as he could tell, was actually a second or third cousin of his father's but she insisted on being called Aunt. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When Moishe Pipik was a little pisher, Morrie had been a merchant marine. Morrie traveled the world and would mail the family picture postcards from all the exotic ports where the ships docked. The postcards decorated the apartment, giving the place a low budget international flair.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As near as Moishe Pipik could tell, Uncle Morrie had some sort of job involving race horses. Unfortunately, the horses didn't always pay Uncle Morrie, which was a cause for friction with Moishe Pipik's father. Moishe Pipik figured that the problem stemmed from the fact that horses don't have pockets so the horses rarely carried money. </span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2WXudhBoh3JrDF56V3hoeVeqRq2tuPo4ZQLES6HbLs0pa5JOVoSj2iF365RX0rzf8C9ETabyhVN9pImBjtUwwg1ugKhrPbl6dTe5HsgM1JwpE4OphEO1aMYCFSMRakrfMA0H9yptV4dX9W-1z7p_sltkXZhDhfOO6mpYd2w_UG1Y3iqlNQZg5HzBkCM2/s2048/NYHXGXJVVBCDZHHV7YJB3IRKUU.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1622" data-original-width="2048" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2WXudhBoh3JrDF56V3hoeVeqRq2tuPo4ZQLES6HbLs0pa5JOVoSj2iF365RX0rzf8C9ETabyhVN9pImBjtUwwg1ugKhrPbl6dTe5HsgM1JwpE4OphEO1aMYCFSMRakrfMA0H9yptV4dX9W-1z7p_sltkXZhDhfOO6mpYd2w_UG1Y3iqlNQZg5HzBkCM2/s320/NYHXGXJVVBCDZHHV7YJB3IRKUU.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When the horses did pay off, Uncle Morrie would be quite generous. A couple of times he took Moishe Pipik to Coney Island, where they watched the skirts, ate ice cream on the Boardwalk and went to the Penny Arcade where Moishe Pipik saw the jumpy films of hoochie-coochie girls for the first time. Once, Uncle Morrie took the lad to the big museum in Manhattan to gawk at the dinosaur bones. Occasionally they would go to Ebbets Field to eat Cracker Jacks and Foot Long hot dogs while watching the Brooklyn Dodgers. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Nope. Morrie no longer shipped out. He did, however, tell elaborate tales of days when his travels took him to exotic places like Buenos Aires, Tangiers, Marrakesh, Havana and New Jersey. The stories of strange and wonderful adventures involved Eskimos, Bedouin, Gauchos, Pickpockets, White Slavers, Pygmies, Horse Thieves, Card Sharks and Indians. In those tales, Uncle Morrie was always heroic. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Uncle Morrie played checkers with Moishe Pipik. He also taught him poker and gin rummy. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The most wondrous and unexplainable thing about Uncle Morrie is that he would sometimes pull a nickel out of Moishe Pipik's ear. For no particular reason, at random and unexpected times, Uncle Morrie would draw the boy close, reach around and extract a shiny coin...and then, give the nickel to the boy! </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Nothing pleased Moishe Pipik more than the feeling of a nickel pressed into the palm of his hand. He would smile broadly and then squeeze the coin in a tightly gripped fist. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Of course, a nickel would not remain long in Moishe Pipik's hand. He would run down the street to Finklestein's Delicatessen where he would promptly exchange the shiny nickel for the opportunity to fish a fat kosher dill pickle from the wooden barrel. The pickle barrel was nearly as tall as Moishe Pipik. With the tongs held firmly in his right hand, leaning over the huge barrel, Moishe Pipik would try to find the biggest and juiciest of the pickles floating in brine. Nothing pleased him more than exchanging a nickel for such a Heavenly Delight as a fat dill pickle. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When his Aunt Fannie would arrive, it was usually just before dinner time. She would be carrying a small suitcase and the clothes she wore would be crumpled and mussed. There would be a knock at the door. Aunt Fannie, standing there, would sniffle. Aunt Fannie would be holding back tears. She would sigh heavily, and shuffle her feet a bit. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik's mother would also sigh. Then, his mother would usher Aunt Fannie in. No questions were ever asked. An extra plate would be put at the table. Moishe Pipik's mother would add some more water to whatever was cooking on the stove and somehow there was always just enough food to go around. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The first couple of days after her arrival, Aunt Fannie was always moody and outwardly unhappy. Aunt Fannie would say things to Moishe Pipik such as “Always stay a little boy!” and “Don't grow up to be like all those other men!” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When the mourning period for her lost romantic entanglement was over, Aunt Fannie's mood would improve and she would be upbeat and joyful. Then, Aunt Fannie was a lot of fun to be around and Moishe Pipik loved all of the attention that she showered on him, although he could do without so many hugs and a few less pinches. Moishe Pipik really didn't much like the smeared lipstick on his cheeks either, truth be told. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">On the particular day in question Moishe Pipik awoke with a particularly strong desire for a pickle from the big wooden barrel at Finklestein's Delicatessen. He asked his mother if she would give him a nickel to satisfy his craving. She told him that she didn't have any extra money for frivolity. He was most disappointed but not particularly surprised. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Aunt Fannie was stretched out on the sofa. She was feeling very sorry for herself. She had a hot water bottle on her head and she groaned horribly, on the verge of tears. Moishe Pipik determined that there was no point in asking Aunt Fannie for anything that morning. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Uncle Morrie was sitting at the kitchen table. He was drinking coffee, smoking a cigarette, and studying the Daily Racing Form. Moishe Pipik asked his uncle to look in his ears and see if there were any nickels hidden in there. Uncle Morrie grunted before taking a look. “I am afraid,” he said, “that the nickel mine is played out for now.” That was certainly not encouraging news.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik always carried a rucksack to school, just like the other children of the neighborhood. In his rucksack, he always had </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">a notebook, pencils, and a few crayons. Sometimes there was a snack. Always there was his small drawstring pouch where he kept his marbles as well as any treasures that he happened upon. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">All the way to school that morning, Moishe Pipik walked in the gutter between the sidewalk and the streets. He kept his eyes peeled, hoping to spy coins that had fallen there. He didn't find a single one on that long walk to school. Moishe Pipik arrived at school, as he usually did, a little late and a bit rumpled. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sorry to say, however, Moishe Pipik was not a particularly attentive student. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A typical day at Moishe Pipik's school went something like this. The teacher helped the children learn their Aleph Beis. All the children watch the teacher write the letters on the blackboard and they all copy the letters into their notebooks. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Everyone, that is, except Moishe Pipik. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When the teacher writes an Aleph א on the blackboard, all the children see an א but not Moishe Pipik. He sees a robot. The other children write א in their notebooks. Moishe Pipik draws a robot. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Next, the teacher writes a Beis ב on the blackboard, and Moishe Pipik sees a hippopotamus. The other children write ב in their notebooks. Moishe Pipik draws a hippopotamus.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The teacher writes a Gimel ג but Moishe Pipik sees a rocket ship preparing for liftoff. The other children carefully jot ג into their notebooks. Moishe Pipik carefully sketches a rocket on a launchpad. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">School ended no time too soon for the boy. His craving for a fat kosher dill had not waned whatsoever during the proceeding hours. Yet, he was no closer to satisfying his desire, still lacking a nickel. Moishe Pipik dilly dallied on his way back home, as he considered his options. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik detoured past the lot where the boys of the neighborhood would gather for games such as stickball, tag, mumbly-peg, and marbles. That day there was a circle of boys shooting marbles in the lot. Moishe Pipik joined in the game. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Marbles is a game involving both luck and skill. A circle is drawn on the ground, players place marbles within the circle and then take turns by aiming a slightly larger shooter at the marbles with the intention of dislodging the marbles from the circle. Any knocked free of the circle becomes the property of the player that has knocked them loose. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik was fairly skilled at the game so evidently luck was not with him. In hardly any time, Moishe Pipik's drawstring bag was nearly empty. All that remained was his shooter, one cat's eye, a couple of very plain marbles, a button, and a pebble. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OvTjWneCWxmShkkheBKS98GzSdDKjYEUSudQ1oev2PJykcx9c8e_WG23cMrCbqY6VZzA7NMCAVxLpY71EKVp1j4hidBrjLAnrl-w4417TyRJZnWiTELhtgR6orZ68yz64GXZ7jB5NVF_-1ddD0XmQ3ruyca5rjwffEDYB1HW6TsfeKn0GQ9DGA1PIQIi/s5557/Boys_Playing_Marbles_Oak_Ridge_1947_(11205755324).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4335" data-original-width="5557" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OvTjWneCWxmShkkheBKS98GzSdDKjYEUSudQ1oev2PJykcx9c8e_WG23cMrCbqY6VZzA7NMCAVxLpY71EKVp1j4hidBrjLAnrl-w4417TyRJZnWiTELhtgR6orZ68yz64GXZ7jB5NVF_-1ddD0XmQ3ruyca5rjwffEDYB1HW6TsfeKn0GQ9DGA1PIQIi/s320/Boys_Playing_Marbles_Oak_Ridge_1947_(11205755324).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">From there, Moishe Pipik wandered about the neighborhood, scheming and dreaming and hoping for a pickle. Surely there was a way for at least one nickel to come into his possession, or perhaps even acquiring a pickle by some other means. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Then, Moishe Pipik remembered that time once when he happened to be in the alley behind the delicatessen when the delivery truck was there. The driver, for no particular reason, as if a miracle, just gave him a pickle. Well, lightning can strike twice so Moishe Pipik ran to the alley but of course there was no delivery truck there on that day. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What Moishe Pipik did find in the alley was a wooden banana crate. Well, it wasn't a pickle but it was a fortuitous discovery. It was just what the boy needed to fulfill one of his lifetime goals. Moishe Pipik hoisted the wooden crate onto his back, resting it on his head. In this way, Moishe Pipik walked back to his building and up the steps to his apartment. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When Moishe Pipik got home, he found his mother busy scrubbing the kitchen floor. Hardly looking up, his Momma asked him, "What did you learn in school today?"</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"I learned about rocket ships and robots and hippopotamus…esses…ummm"</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"Hippopotami, I think, is the plural, but I am not sure," said his mother. "Ask your teacher tomorrow."</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Okay, Momma,” Moishe Pipik responded. He headed, with his crate, across the apartment and out the window to the fire escape. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">On the fire escape, Moishe Pipik went straight to work. The banana crate served as the cabin for the rocket ship that he had always dreamed of building. With some bits of wire, string, wheels, bicycle pedals, tin cans, and such, Moishe Pipik built a rocket ship like none other. He wasted no time, blasting off in his rocket ship that very afternoon, directly from the fire escape.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This is how Moishe Pipik became the first person to fly to space and land on the Moon, not that he ever received much recognition for that feat. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The flight went without a hitch and was much quicker than Moishe Pipik had expected. When he arrived on the Moon, he was greeted with much fanfare. The Moon People pulled out all the stops. There was a marching band and a huge banner with the words “Welcome Moishe Pipik” in great big letters. They all yelled “Speech! Speech!” The cheers were thunderous when Moishe Pipik took the stage and expressed his heartfelt appreciation for their kindly reception. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik's biggest regret concerning that trip, however, is that he didn't pack a camera. Photographic documentation of the voyage would have certainly bolstered his claims about visiting the Moon. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lacking a camera, Moishe Pipik made a few sketches in his notebook. Unfortunately, in all of the excitement, he misspelled the word “Welcome” on the banner. Also, in his excitement, he added a giraffe, an elephant, and a hippopotamus to the picture even though none of those animals were actually there. Sorry to say, his drawings were not that convincing. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Additionally, Moishe Pipik had asked the Moon People if he could take some cheese home. He was informed that he had arrived on a day when the cheese mine was closed for repairs. So, most unfortunately, Moishe Pipik had no souvenirs from his trip to reinforce his assertions that he had traveled to the Moon.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik's return flight was unremarkable and without a hitch. He was back on the fire escape in no time flat. It was still hours before his supper would be served. Moishe Pipik's mother was at work by the stove, stirring a large pot. He tried to tell his mother about his trip to the Moon but she was much too busy to listen and shooed him away. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik's Aunt Fannie was once again moping in the living room. His Uncle Morrie had gone to the racetrack. The boy still had the unfulfilled desire for a delicious kosher dill and he still lacked a nickel. He headed back out into the streets of Brooklyn. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik knew what had to be done and he went about doing it. He moved with the intensity and purposefulness of a shark, approaching neighbors in search of temporary employment. To anyone who would listen, he explained how he really wanted a pickle from the delicatessen and therefore really, really needed a nickel.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Over the next couple of hours, Moishe Pipik swept sidewalks, steps, and foyers. He emptied a litter box and took out some trash. He weeded several flower pots and walked a dog. Somehow, even with all the efforts, the goal remained elusive. Moishe Pipik found himself in front of Finklestein's Delicatessen without a nickel to his name. He sat down on the curb, held his head in his small hands, and began to cry.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6y3DP4pdvNjr5qe2bQMCBjC2J9Q4lvjfzN2iZsHtdlu5tNTTe5Yxlfh0o9VAE8qJqlkNVm7PeJkz5IKsHtH1N-yu43k-AA3SctfPw2nbITGSgYwFvjh4AhffxT5AYly1JuSer8uiTLYbxQtfi86qP3QSiPjxFgtIKsEMJjeTd4ai5oEIGiqpbPb_lmQn/s1023/olddeli~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="806" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6y3DP4pdvNjr5qe2bQMCBjC2J9Q4lvjfzN2iZsHtdlu5tNTTe5Yxlfh0o9VAE8qJqlkNVm7PeJkz5IKsHtH1N-yu43k-AA3SctfPw2nbITGSgYwFvjh4AhffxT5AYly1JuSer8uiTLYbxQtfi86qP3QSiPjxFgtIKsEMJjeTd4ai5oEIGiqpbPb_lmQn/s320/olddeli~2.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><br /><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The crying started out as just a whimper but it graduated into a full-fledged Niagara Falls sort of downpour. The tears fell into the gutter and threatened to flood the entire street. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When Mr Finklestein looked out the big plate glass window of his delicatessen, he saw what assuredly was the saddest little boy in the whole world. Mr Finklestein wiped his hands on his white smock and walked out the front door of the delicatessen. The bell on the door tinkled as he left the building and crossed the sidewalk. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik was absorbed in his very personal sense of loss and private misery. He took no notice of Mr Finkelstein until the man's rotund shadow was directly over him. Then, Moishe Pipik looked up. He saw the kindly shopkeeper through his bleary reddened eyes, and began to stifle his tears.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“What's the matter, my Dear Moishe Pipik?” asked the good shopkeeper in the white smock. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik, gasping and nearly choking on his river of tears, said most emphatically “Today is the worst day of my life!” He then dropped his head back into his hands and began crying once more.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Listen, young fellow,” Mr Finklestein said as he handed Moishe Pipik the handkerchief from his breast pocket. “How about you blow your nose, wipe away your tears, and come with me into the delicatessen. Maybe we can see what we can do to salvage your day. I have some experience with bad days. Maybe it won't turn out so awful after all.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mr Finklestein took Moishe Pipik's small hand and the two of them walked inside. Mr Finklestein set Moishe Pipik up on a stool behind the counter, near the cash register. There, they would be able to talk while Mr Finklestein could keep an eye on his store and help any customers that may show up. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“So, Moishe Pipik! Tell me all about it. What happened today?” This is what the shopkeeper said to the boy. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So, Moishe Pipik proceeded to give an account of his day. “This morning, all that I really, really wanted - all that I could think about - was a pickle. You know how much I love the pickles from your big barrel.” The boy gave the shopkeeper a knowing nod. Mr Finklestein returned the nod. Moishe Pipik continued his narrative. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“I asked my Momma for a nickel, but she said no. I asked my Uncle Morrie if he could pull a nickel out of my ear but he told me that my head was empty. That's how my morning began.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Hmm,” said Mr Finklestein. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“I looked for nickels in the gutter on the way to school but, no luck. After school, I lost my marbles…at least, most of them.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Then, I built a rocket ship and flew to the Moon. They didn't have any cheese because the cheese mine was closed for repairs and I don't have any photographs so probably nobody will believe that. My Mom sure didn't.” Moishe Pipik showed Mr Finklestein the sketches from the trip.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Well, now…” said Mr Finkelstein. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik put his drawstring bag on the counter as he began to explain the next phase of his very long day.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“So, I went to work to see if I could earn a nickel. Mrs Apelblum asked me to take out her trash. She didn't have a nickel. She gave me seven pennies.” Moishe Pipik put the seven pennies into a small pile on the counter. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Mrs Bassowitz asked me to walk her dog. She didn't have a nickel. She gave me a dime which is much smaller than a nickel.” Moishe Pipik sadly placed the dime next to the pennies. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Mrs Czernec asked me to sweep her steps. She didn't have a nickel. She gave me a subway token.” Moishe Pipik added the subway token to the collection of coins on the counter.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mr Dannenberg also asked me to do some sweeping for him. He didn't have a nickel. He gave me three stamps.” The stamps were placed on the counter.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Mrs Ehrendorf had me clean out her smelly cat's stinky litter box. She gave me three empty soda bottles.” These were in Moishe Pipik's rucksack and he placed them on the counter. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Mrs Feldman asked me to pull all the weeds from her flower pots. She didn't have a nickel but she gave me two cookies and they were pretty good. Not as good as a pickle but better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, I suppose.” Moishe Pipik smiled a bit as he wiped some cookie crumbs from the corners of his mouth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mr Finklestein patted Moishe Pipik on the head. “Let's do some math,” he said to the boy. Moishe Pipik grimaced. He hated math but he tried to be brave.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mr Finklestein counted five of the seven pennies as he picked them up off the counter. “Five pennies, young man is worth a nickel.” He placed the five pennies into his cash register and replaced it with a nickel. Moishe Pipik's eyes brightened. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“This thin dime here doesn't look like much.” With that, he dropped it into his cash register and placed two nickels on the counter in its place. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“What do you suppose that subway token is worth?” Mr Finklestein slipped the token into the cash register and replaced it with three nickels. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“These are three cent stamps. That's nine cents.” Mr Finklestein placed a nickel and four pennies onto the counter. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“The soda bottles,” Mr Finklestein continued, “each have two cents deposits.” He put the bottles into a crate and put a nickel and a penny on the counter in their stead. Moishe Pipik's eyes widened. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7365e67d-7fff-846a-0fb7-474523103542" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik began to count the coins, placing them into piles. Eight nickels made quite a stack. There were also seven pennies. Moishe Pipik happily traded five of those pennies for another nickel.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik left Finklestein's Delicatessen with EIGHT fat kosher dill pickles wrapped in wax paper with brown paper wrapped around that and all placed lovingly into a paper sack by Mr Finklestein. Moishe Pipik held the largest pickle from the barrel in his right hand and ate it on his way back home. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">By the time that Moishe Pipik had returned to his apartment, his family was already seated at the dining table. Moishe Pipik slid into his seat, next to Aunt Fannie. Aunt Fannie's mood had much improved. She squeezed the boy until he squealed and kissed him loudly on his cheek, leaving a significant amount of smeared lipstick on his face. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Uncle Morrie and Moishe Pipik's father had reconciled any ill feelings between them as Uncle Morrie had made a generous contribution towards the rent. He had also brought home a freshly killed chicken which Moishe Pipik's mother cooked and served even though it was a weekday and not Shabbos or a holiday. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Uncle Morrie and Moishe Pipik's father were sharing a bottle of schnapps. They each had a glass and the bottle sat between them. Moishe Pipik's father filled the cap - a thimble’s worth, perhaps - with schnapps and passed it to the boy. Moishe Pipik tossed the pungent liquid down his throat and gave a little shudder. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Everyone was having a fine time. Uncle Morrie refilled the cap and slid it across the table back to Moishe Pipik. He also gave the boy the bag of chocolates that he had bought for him on his way home from the racetrack, handing him the bag under the table. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik ate his fill and then some of the chicken and potatoes that his mother served that evening. He stealthily chomped down the chocolates as well. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moishe Pipik wobbled away from the table, quite satiated. The boy went to his room, taking the eight remaining pickles from Finklestein's Delicatessen with him. He sat in his closet, eating one pickle after another, and thinking that it had turned out to be the absolutely best day of his life. That is, until the churning sensation in his stomach began. </span></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-14314132955562172892023-10-19T12:54:00.003-07:002023-10-20T00:49:05.299-07:00Even Without Clocks <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpxdvy7QMOygXZHWLoyW_CgdLjgB5DULkBftmhG9_ASlOsKR1qtNdX8Z-T3imncFxIE7czBDh3TgP9Ed3B1omCvNOcAO2Br7n8ZeiEt3BJpZAD5fHGwlcKTbgNYhUlNH0v1NAkGpn5t1YaqProgCL_w9vn-gpAU_VKaTH22GEMYWbtRA7cNkQrt5ZKvYt/s4160/20231019_123817.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpxdvy7QMOygXZHWLoyW_CgdLjgB5DULkBftmhG9_ASlOsKR1qtNdX8Z-T3imncFxIE7czBDh3TgP9Ed3B1omCvNOcAO2Br7n8ZeiEt3BJpZAD5fHGwlcKTbgNYhUlNH0v1NAkGpn5t1YaqProgCL_w9vn-gpAU_VKaTH22GEMYWbtRA7cNkQrt5ZKvYt/s320/20231019_123817.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"...and I am anxiously waiting for the secret of eternal life to be discovered…"</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Lawrence Ferlinghetti from his poem </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I Am Waiting</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">by Zvi Baranoff</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Abuelo, like an history professor, extrapolated on the Zone's relationship - or lack thereof - with Chicago, the USA, the rest of the world…and the unlikely events that created a place found on no maps.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For perspective, we considered the Spanish Civil War, the Paris Commune, letters exchanged between Karl Marx and Abraham Lincoln, the dialectics of Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, and the campaign for the eight hour work day before approaching more recent history. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Abuelo pulled down a screen with a map of Chicago. "This is where I lived in the 1990s," he said, pointing with a broom handle. "By the end of the century, there was a bike collective here, an organic bakery here and a puppet troupe in a warehouse here."</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"Well," he continued, "there were urban gardens here and squatters in here."</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"Demonstrations usually began in this park, proceeding in this direction. The police would try to block off the marches before they got this far."</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"At some point there would be a standoff. The cops formed a phalanx, a bottle would bounce off some cop's helmet or a window would crack somewhere. Clubs would swing, teargas canisters would fly. Crowds would either flee or fight. Sometimes they built barricades". That was the general pattern for decades. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We listened to recordings of old speeches and watched films of marches and riots spanning a quarter century. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There were calls for disbanding the police department, or at very least keeping cops out of the Zone. Some advocated for secession.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Rather than marching towards the police, demonstrators declared parks and streets "liberated" and defended territory. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The police retaliated by clearing out occupied spaces. Cops attacked the parks, raided the squats, and trampled the gardens. And a bottle would fly or a window would break and the batons were utilized as was teargas.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The frequency of demonstrations increased. Tensions grew. The crowds got larger and more adamant. The police became more brutal.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Those that lived in the Zone anticipated negotiations and compromise leading to increased autonomy. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What came down from the Federales caught everyone off guard. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Forever, it had been a bizarre ballet with discordant music. Without warning, the orchestra packed up and left. The dancers did not know what to do.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It was the Ides of March when the Zone was declared to be illegal. All businesses operating within the Zone were ordered to cease activities immediately. The government declared that those "without criminal intent" must vacate the Zone forthwith. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Electricity to the Zone was cut off. Mail and trash was discontinued. Water was briefly cut, but that required shutting down a line that served a third of Chicago, so the water was soon back on.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Neighborhood meetings stretched into the early morning hours. A collective response was sought but consensus was never quite reached. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Police established Security Checkpoints on the main streets. Cars were allowed out, with a screening for outstanding warrants. Then, barriers were placed on all the secondary streets. Soon after, the alleys were blocked. Boulders were placed on the bike paths.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">While persistent individuals on foot found ways through the blockade, normal travel and exchange was squashed. The Zone was under quarantine, embargo, siege.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">People in the Zone tried using the internet to reach the outside world. Within days, most of the Zone lost that connection. Some would wander with their phones held up in the air, trying to catch a signal near the checkpoints. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Police drones knocked phones from hands, smashing fingers as well as phones. After a few days, the electronic curtain solidified. Even those weak signals around the parameters disappeared. The Zone was cut off.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Virtually no news seeped from the Zone. The only information that came in was from the police at the security checkpoints. Much of that information seemed tailored to cause panic. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Around that time, the Federal government instituted the Universal Cell Phone & Internet Bill of Rights. No law has ever been more mislabeled than this. On the one hand, it assured every American access to the internet, but it bound everyone to the web. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The governmental presumption is that anyone disconnected for long from the web had died. Dead people don't have bank accounts, health insurance or Social Security. Essentially, anyone remaining in the Zone became dead to the world.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The population of the Zone rapidly dwindled. Those with commitments to jobs and families left. Those with deeper attachments in the neighborhood or with reasons to be disconnected from the outside - such as outstanding warrants - stayed put. Things got really difficult, really quickly.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Salvagers became key to survival in the Zone. They moved in and out of abandoned properties, determining what was useful. Salvagers oversaw deconstruction projects and coordinated smuggling operations that brought essentials into the Zone. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">To be a Salvager took a level of gumption and willfulness that only the truly committed can maintain. Initially, the Salvagers were a working committee, primarily of squatters. The crews transformed into something closer to a guild or a fraternity.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"Let's go for a walk," Abuelo suggested. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sure, why not? I looked around in case of mountain lions or other such. I shrugged my shoulders. I found my hat and coat. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Abuelo threw some fruit and bread and cheese and such into a shoulder bag and picked up his walking cane. We headed out into the pre-morning darkness.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The weather had turned moderate. The walk was not cold. We entered a stairwell of one of the taller buildings in the Zone. On the roof, there was a fine sheltered space with a lawn and trees and a view of the eastern horizon. Some other locals also found their way to this promontory. The sun rose in spectacular form. We ate breakfast on that rooftop.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"I have something to show you," Abuelo told me. He led me further through the trails of the Zone. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We tend to think of city spaces as crowded places, however, if houses are scaled down and roads, offices, commercial buildings, parking lots, trains and such are eliminated, a is a city can be quite spacious and open.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That is the situation in the Zone. Probably three-quarters of the original buildings had been carefully deconstructed, with everything useful transformed. The cottage where I was recuperating was built entirely from repurposed materials. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We walked another short distance and came to what had been a plaza long ago. There was a building with a clock tower but the face of the clock had been smashed. A pedestal stood unadorned in the center of the former plaza, with neither statuary nor plaque.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"So," Abuelo began. "The more political folks met all day and all night. They argued and fought over ideology and policy. They strived to make decisions by consensus."</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"In theory, that meant that everyone came to a common agreement. In practice, there were really few things anyone agreed about. No one liked to be told what to do. No one wanted authority over them. As far as making practical decisions, well…" He trailed off and sat quietly for a while.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Then he continued his tale. "They abolished government, capitalism and money. All that was pretty simple since the government had abandoned the Zone. There was no business. Paper money had already been banned. We were cut off from electronic financial transactions. Those 'decisions' had really already been made for us."</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"They went on to do away with sexism, racism, ageism and every other 'ism' they could think of. Then, they took on the issue of time."</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"There was a May Day celebration here in the plaza with music and speeches followed by the great debate about time."</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"Labor activists decried the old bosses and time clocks. The young and the old argued against being categorized by chronological age. Former prisoners did not want to 'do' time. Anarchists claimed that time was oppressive. New Agers declared time an illusion. Some suggested that if we stopped measuring time we could halt the aging process. Science fiction fans professed that by disconnecting from linear time, time traveling would be possible."</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"So, on that May Day, while we partied below, a yahoo with a sledgehammer climbed the tower and destroyed the clock."</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"The next day, calendars, day planners, and clocks were piled up and set aflame. Over the next couple of days, several individuals lost their wristwatches to zealots. The Zone was declared free of time for perpetuity."</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"That was our last May Day in the Zone. Without a calendar there are no holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and no yahrzeit candles lit for you when you are gone."</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Abuelo balanced himself with his cane. "Somehow, even without clocks and calendars, we still age," he said with resignation and a touch of sadness. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As we walked home, I asked Abuelo about the empty pedestal in the former plaza. "Oh," he said. "The nihilists wanted to build a monument to nothing, and they did."</span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e3e1683f-7fff-3058-f0c6-0d54aa32ee31" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e3e1683f-7fff-3058-f0c6-0d54aa32ee31" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This piece was published in the Fall 2023 issue of </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Fifth Estate</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. They left off the Ferlinghetti quote and may have made a minor change or two. They have a minor typo... Anyway, I can't complain. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Fifth Estate</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> is a GREAT publication that has been around since the 1960s. Consider subscribing or otherwise supporting their publishing efforts. Here is a link:</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><a href="https://www.fifthestate.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">https://www.fifthestate.org/</span></a></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-23934463086502092072023-01-31T19:28:00.002-08:002023-01-31T22:37:11.423-08:00The Beginning of the Telling of the Planet Birobidzhan Tale <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_QjkwVRMXYauZDv87qbyyJ190oHYXVU_VWVYNMTfX7-k22DS4_GYDZt4Cw4LfRBA90AQptPVkD6FcjOMAi-DE-rW-mp5C-rCFTVntGtf1l80gsxJKljCfoFwGAPXSh7-aVkYkg5-pR1bhd73jHQI-7IhdqImrQDl9Y9kSPBm_xy9UcBriMoR2djAq8Q/s600/milky_way_galaxy_821251324.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_QjkwVRMXYauZDv87qbyyJ190oHYXVU_VWVYNMTfX7-k22DS4_GYDZt4Cw4LfRBA90AQptPVkD6FcjOMAi-DE-rW-mp5C-rCFTVntGtf1l80gsxJKljCfoFwGAPXSh7-aVkYkg5-pR1bhd73jHQI-7IhdqImrQDl9Y9kSPBm_xy9UcBriMoR2djAq8Q/s320/milky_way_galaxy_821251324.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> new </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">introduction to the Planet Birobidzhan story, which has been published in installments on this blog. The story is now the length of a short novel. There is a final editing in process and then I intend to publish this as a book. In the meantime, the story can be read by following the links.</span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The links to all the earlier posted installments in the order that they were posted are below. (This essentially replaces #17 on that list.) There is also a link to a Glossary.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Author's Disclaimer & Note</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, primarily on the far away Planet Birobidzhan.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not an exclusively Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-40ada524-7fff-6340-3dcb-1e513e4b1a36" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Link to the Glossary:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><br /><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">פּלאַנעט ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Beginning of the Telling of the Planet Birobidzhan Tale </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An Introduction & Explanation of Sorts</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Zvi Baranoff </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the story of how the Planet Birobidzhan came to be settled. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is a tale of displacement, exile and a sense of entrapment by fate. This is also the saga of the few that strive to break free from the entanglement of their fate.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Planet Birobidzhan was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. The people there have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To tell the story of the Yidden of Planet Birobidzhan, and the story of that world where they live, we rely on multiple sources that relay their perspectives. From that vantage point we hope to present a broader understanding of the people of that world. The tale that we tell spans hundreds of years. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, to comprehend the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mentshn</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that are described in this tale, one needs to consider their origin, their source, their wellspring.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where did our People, our Blessed Ancestors, come from? The simple answer is Planet Earth, of course. But, that answer explains very little about our lineage. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All humanity derived from a common lineage, one mother, a single spark. We even all had a single </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shprakh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. What that language was, we do not know. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Humanity dispersed globally. Each region, and all the peoples of each region, developed their own </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mama Loshen</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I suppose. Farsheteyt? I can't say that I really understand, but indeed the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shprakh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of each of us became babbling in each other's ears. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our Father Abraham originated in Ur Kasdim, located in a land that was later known as Iraq. Abraham developed a personal and direct relationship with God and with that our fate, our </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bashert</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as a people, begins to be distinct from the rest of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mentshen</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of Planet Earth. That relationship with the Creator is the inheritance that his descendants receive, but not evenly distributed. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Father Abraham's wife had not been able to conceive. Mother Sarah, in her old age, offered her servant as a surrogate to bear children for her. The servant and Abraham's first son, however, are left to fend for themselves in the wilderness because Sarah's reasoning was displaced with jealousy. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What we know of Abraham's immediate family, and those that follow, we learn from the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanakh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the assemblage of texts that others call the Old Testament. It serves as a history, a guidepost, a legal structure, a blueprint, a tool for divination and as a national saga. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most stories that you will read have a beginning, a middle and an end, and perhaps even a moral. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It grieves me to say so, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">es tut mir layd,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it hurts me, but I am not really sure how, or exactly when, this tale begins. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the beginning there was the void and then there was form. It is described in Genesis.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"When God began to create heaven and earth - the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water - God said 'Let there be light' and there was light." (Jewish Publication Society translation from Genesis)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am quite uncertain about how it all ends. Our prophets offer some veiled illusions, but no conclusions. Some faiths of other peoples delve much more into such concepts of Apocalyptic End Times than our tradition. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The middle is quite garbled. Most of our tale here is likely closer to the end than the beginning, but who knows? </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Es tut mir layd </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for a lack of greater clarity. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps offering some context might be a soothing gesture. If I can actually provide context, perhaps that would prove to be useful to a reader. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our story of the Yidden on Planet Birobidzhan seems to backtrack, ramble and twist in on itself. Our tale is full of doubt and uncertainty. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That this is a story about Jews might be the reason for the rambling, a continuation on a trajectory that reaches back to the very beginning of time itself…or, at least to the earliest days of the Jewish People. Maybe that explains it. Maybe it doesn't. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ikh vis nisht. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I suffer from a condition of nostalgia. I am dissatisfied with the present. I long for a better time. I have a nearly perpetual sense that my very existence is an anachronism. Maybe that explains it. Maybe it doesn't. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ikh vis nisht.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That certainly isn't an exclusively Jewish condition. I think it is a widespread human phenomenon. Other individuals from other cultures have suffered with such. However, a state of nostalgia and displacement does seem particularly pervasive amongst the Yidden. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a people, we are very concerned about lineage. Our </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanakh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is full of instances of displaced lines of inheritance, periods of exile, and separation trauma. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brothers fought within wombs for dominance. Birthrights were traded for bowls of soup. Children were conceived through subterfuge and seduction. Moshe was raised by Pharaoh's daughter. Hadassah married the King of Persia. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These sorts of plot twists repeat throughout our </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanakh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The themes reappear amongst the Nations in barely camouflaged folk tales such as Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, and Cinderella. The Roma fortune tellers developed Tarot Cards for the retelling and retooling of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanakh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for those lacking a capacity for literacy. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps our historical obsession with assurances of ethnicity derives from the obvious lack of lineage purity. We are, after all, of many hues and physical types. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We mirror this concern with our dietary laws that obsess on separations. It is true that we refrain, for instance, from mixing milk and meat. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many of the meals that we perceive as Jewish food all seem to borrow heavily from the sorts of foods eaten by our Russian, Polish and Ukrainian Gentile neighbors. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We also tend to blend or mash our foods. Our </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kugel</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gefilte fish</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kneidelach</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, chopped liver, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tzimmes</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cholent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> all reflect our tendency to bring some order out of chaos, imitating, in a way, the act of Creation. Our foods are as mixed up as our bloodlines. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, wherever we migrated, we carried our burdens and contradictions with us. We carried Eretz Yisrael with us into exile. We returned from exile with the habits, values and customs of the Diaspora. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was our fate on Planet Earth. This is true on Planet Birobidzhan. This is true as we transit across galaxies. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Es tut mir layd. </span></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8bNFCzBMWuY9T9-3JBdj_uidiVdjj-rrTWgN6He8-qCNxtCNHJszMJcJjdafVxHIwpavbWb4pAH-OXv1nLEYuQwIZDtSicxoak0rkxthsTDNnlqo7H5fGxljgA-dUewF-M88VbSt9lCPrGbsXSHkEk60WDN9b-Z_46A51Fs1tOElKaFwvYv5ocghURA/s414/CrabNebula_Hubble_960_1673765827749_1673765842040_1673765842040.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="414" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8bNFCzBMWuY9T9-3JBdj_uidiVdjj-rrTWgN6He8-qCNxtCNHJszMJcJjdafVxHIwpavbWb4pAH-OXv1nLEYuQwIZDtSicxoak0rkxthsTDNnlqo7H5fGxljgA-dUewF-M88VbSt9lCPrGbsXSHkEk60WDN9b-Z_46A51Fs1tOElKaFwvYv5ocghURA/s320/CrabNebula_Hubble_960_1673765827749_1673765842040_1673765842040.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e61edccd-7fff-0c32-53c7-a0be4598904a" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><br /><br /><br /></div>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-59872157183194161232023-01-25T00:25:00.002-08:002023-01-25T12:47:53.324-08:00Flourishing on Planet Shney <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYVDFY0IomtqXYUEWgcu2iKb3cj3SFVnbSSrolT7W4Ks5z8p4TjbeTYjxzBoJx8L5Jd5B0dOL-VoXF3veVO26NzHjFCEaLQGc2C0d9oosxfWCRDy-hIRztFKmcOR7WJWJHk6ovC6veTiNADvEMSyW5YPRRUCajkt2LCZQV3bZzVMhEpAk0nEm_-oF-g/s670/Universe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="670" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYVDFY0IomtqXYUEWgcu2iKb3cj3SFVnbSSrolT7W4Ks5z8p4TjbeTYjxzBoJx8L5Jd5B0dOL-VoXF3veVO26NzHjFCEaLQGc2C0d9oosxfWCRDy-hIRztFKmcOR7WJWJHk6ovC6veTiNADvEMSyW5YPRRUCajkt2LCZQV3bZzVMhEpAk0nEm_-oF-g/s320/Universe.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>by Zvi Baranoff </p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">had orbited that planet in the winter, it is likely that it never would have landed. However, in very early summer, much of that world looked quite appealing. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The air is good. The soil is fertile. There are extensive mineral deposits. There is an abundance of creatures similar to the beavers of Planet Earth with pelts that make excellent fur. There are large docile herds of a bovine sort whose flesh provides a high quality </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kosher </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">meat. Wide swaths of this world are forests that offer up an abundance of lumber. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is much to love about this place. The first few months were enjoyable for everyone. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The emigrants appreciated disembarking, having a change of scenery, and becoming pioneer settlers. The </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">had the potential to shelter the emigrants but to become settlers required moving beyond the ship. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A small </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shtot </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was designed and the first houses were built. Extensive gardens were planted. Chicken coops were built. The sheep and goats were allowed to graze and seemed very happy to do so. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar had been self absorbed and socially awkward when she was aboard the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the landing, however, she came out of her shell, for a while. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar offered a new design for the mushroom cultivation facility and she oversaw the construction. This was built with hinged doors that made access easier. The transfer was made from the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to the spacious structure that was built on the outer edge of the planned </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shtot. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once the facility was completed, Tamar kept a close observation of the growing until the first full cycle was completed. When the first harvest was done, Tamar packed her rucksack and her violin and headed off, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tsufus </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and alone</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">into the uncharted wilderness of Planet Shney. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When winter set in, the fortitude of the settlers was sorely tested. The first year was very difficult. It was very hard for the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yidden</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from the temperate Planet Birobidzhan to adapt to the physical conditions of Planet Shney. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But for the vastness of the void stretching outwards in all directions, these Yidden may have been inclined to reboard the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and seek out a more comfortable place. Facing such a Hobson's choice of perhaps an endless search of space or making do, the emigrants from Planet Birobidzhan built for themselves and their children a flourishing existence from what was available on Planet Shney. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All told, the trip from Planet Birobidzhan to Planet Shney took just under a decade, which is around half the traveling time of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah's</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> initial voyage two centuries earlier from Planet Earth to Planet Birobidzhan. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the decade of transit, Dovid tinkered with calculations and perfected designs to improve space travel. He came up with several innovations that could significantly reduce transit time and cut production costs, with certain caveats and considerations. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first winter, when Dovid was essentially snowed in on Planet Shney, he fine tuned his design to a point where he believed it was worthy of sharing. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid determined that a much smaller vehicle could be built that would need far less fuel for liftoff. Assuming that the vehicle could be refueled at its destination, far less fuel carrying capacity would be required. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid also calculated that food production and preparation space could be significantly reduced if passengers would rely on prepared vacuum sealed and dried meals. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A smaller vehicle would travel quicker and more efficiently than a lumbering ship such as the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The vehicle that he envisioned would carry no more than one hundred passengers and ideally less. With a predetermined route, such a vehicle could be fully automated and need no pilot or technicians. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to Dovid's calculations, such a vehicle could be built on Planet Birobidzhan and the travel time to Planet Shney could be reduced to under five years. Of course, this presumed that there was interest on Planet Birobidzhan for travel to Planet Shney. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The passengers would be charged for their transportation with the profits going towards reimbursement of the investors on Planet Birobidzhan. On the return voyage, the ship would carry trade goods, initially furs, to be sold on Planet Birobidzhan with those profits also returned to the earlier investors. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid prepared a drone ship for an unmanned excursion. The drone was programmed to land at the First Landing airport with a signal that would alert the Planet Birobidzhan Pilot Association on arrival. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid packed into the tiny vehicle an extensive description of Planet Shney, his completed design for the pared down transit vehicle, and his business proposal. He also included samples of the fine furs made from Planet Shney's beaver-like creatures. The drone was launched in early spring. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Neither Perez nor Zerah showed much interest in academic pursuits. Both of the boys did seem to have an affinity and aptitude for caring for the sheep. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perez and Zerah liked being outdoors and were quite willing to sleep under the stars for days on end. The boys also had certain volatile and violent tendencies that could be channeled into protecting the sheep from the predators of Planet Shney. Being shepherds fit their temperament. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes at night, while camping under the stars, the boys would hear soulful violin music wafting from a distance. On occasion, Tamar would approach their encampment and sit with her sons. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Tamar was inclined to talk, she would tell the boys about Baruch and Shmuli. Tamar would assure Perez and Zerah that their fathers were now learned rabbis on Planet Birobidzhan. Tamar would say that someday soon the rabbis Baruch and Shmuli will come to be with their sons. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan thrived on Planet Shney. The hinged doors of Tamar's newly designed growing facility gave the mushrooms a vector to the outside and the Mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan took full advantage of the opportunity. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan were soon growing and rapidly reproducing in the woods on the edge of the shtot near the growing facility. The wind carried the spores and the mushrooms spread for many kilometers that first year on Planet Shney and much further in subsequent years. They grew very well in the dark moisture of the forests that cover much of Planet Shney. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Almost twelve years to the day after the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">had landed on Planet Shney, the first of the ships built to Dovid's specifications arrived on Planet Shney from Planet Birobidzhan. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The door of the ship opened automatically and a gangplank lowered to allow the weary travelers to disembark. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first people off the ship were a pair of rabbis in their forties. They were immersed in a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Halachic</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> debate and apparently oblivious of their surroundings. They gesticulated wildly as they argued and their </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">payos </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">blew about in the wind. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The rabbis paid scarce attention to this new world that they had landed on until the soulful sounds of a violin playing interrupted their </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Halachic </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">argument</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Baruch and Shmuli each stopped speaking in mid sentence as they looked about for the girl with the violin. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5u5VbrAntx2bvjQ2KmW0ofyxqWQ8ZQ38UQmwOSpbD0mLDu28Z1Omgh6JO5l7yVL3Tp4iuc0a7osL6l3b3qfXKwiIlltaYuJqoMQ_pZa-orbHPHF2g8YSmpFaVLok7QlDaHJZFA5qFPvdQFc5CcQlT1izKigmBIpkLBQadRhJV29ljeV3B_Z-x5dvWg/s3288/FlJ1wswXgAAAnw5_1672395821647.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3288" data-original-width="2649" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5u5VbrAntx2bvjQ2KmW0ofyxqWQ8ZQ38UQmwOSpbD0mLDu28Z1Omgh6JO5l7yVL3Tp4iuc0a7osL6l3b3qfXKwiIlltaYuJqoMQ_pZa-orbHPHF2g8YSmpFaVLok7QlDaHJZFA5qFPvdQFc5CcQlT1izKigmBIpkLBQadRhJV29ljeV3B_Z-x5dvWg/s320/FlJ1wswXgAAAnw5_1672395821647.webp" width="258" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-dc2ce5c5-7fff-4139-11eb-993bb6a82e1d" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">פּלאַנעט ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-28e4a980-7fff-f891-4313-a96c28e70d92" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-ab55203a-7fff-0788-2d22-369c27b68ca1" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /><br /></span></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-57321174597793577302023-01-23T12:33:00.003-08:002023-01-25T00:28:02.793-08:00Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAclZPkbeSbetqVMN6mze_ciGKkBYE3Dmqx_IKKqxE1AypyJ67WZ38gy2q1JQ069ig7NjeMEgHXDlGkhel4NrsIk5DRT6m1xpjhJt_dKrLcOtSyJxAk_6lo41vQleh1p7SDbAyGel0IhGmjYXWP_K9aWR5yz0DF0d0XU0vT_li-JPTUr5pcII7mju5w/s768/OIII_Andromeda-768x705.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="768" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAclZPkbeSbetqVMN6mze_ciGKkBYE3Dmqx_IKKqxE1AypyJ67WZ38gy2q1JQ069ig7NjeMEgHXDlGkhel4NrsIk5DRT6m1xpjhJt_dKrLcOtSyJxAk_6lo41vQleh1p7SDbAyGel0IhGmjYXWP_K9aWR5yz0DF0d0XU0vT_li-JPTUr5pcII7mju5w/s320/OIII_Andromeda-768x705.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> by Zvi Baranoff <p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-29108e76-7fff-a1e4-14e1-8579d3128a8d" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few weeks after the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">left the Planet Birobidzhan behind, Tamar gave birth to twin boys. They emerged, each crying voluminously, healthy and strong. She named her sons Perez and Zerah. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">From their first breathing day, Perez and Zerah competed for Tamar's emotional attention, as well as the nutritional sustenance that flowed through her when they suckled. Tamar continued to speak with the twins as she had when they were in her womb. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar told Perez that his father is a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yeshiva bocher</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> named Baruch. She told Zerah that his father's name is Shmuli. She would tell her newborns that their fathers were busy with their studies but would no doubt seek them out, anywhere in the universe, when they finished their education. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar was the first to use the birthing room of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">clinic. Over the next few years, there were quite a few births in the ship's clinic, keeping the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah's</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> team of midwives fairly busy. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the Home Planet and on Planet Birobidzhan, children would run and play in the fields, forests, playgrounds and streets. For several hours of every day, even in inclement weather, on Planet Birobidzhan, and probably still on Planet Earth, most children are outdoors. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On an intergalactic ship traveling through the void, there is no outdoor play for children. The </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">had designated play areas for the ever increasing hoards of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kinder</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> but the children didn't confine themselves to the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">spielplat. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sounds of children crying, laughing, running and sometimes fighting filled the ship.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Long before Perez and Zerah learned to walk or talk, the brothers were already fighting over everything and nothing. When together, they would pull each other's hair, bite and scratch. When separated, they would cry and each would seek out the other. They were inseparable and irreconcilable. Tamar would say that they are just like their fathers. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perez and Zerah, being the first of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kinder </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">born on the ship, were the de facto leaders of the pack of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vilde khius </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that were the children of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Under the influence of these two, the younger children picked up tendencies that are disturbing to most adults and potentially harmful to other children. This was before any of these </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kinder </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">born to the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">were even old enough for </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cheder. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, being the first children born on the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perez and Zerah were the first of the transit born to enter </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cheder. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It did not take long for the two to test the patience of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">melamed</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and push his tolerance beyond capacity. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The twins required two classrooms separated by the length of the ship and each their own teacher. Individually, each of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yingelas </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wore a teacher out.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid and Hannah Leah doted over their grandsons. They showered them with affection and care. The boys showed love and even </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derekh Eretz </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">under the watchful eyes of the grandparents. Perez and Zerah would calm for an hour or two at a time when with their</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bubbie </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Zeida</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hannah Leah would bake </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kikhlekh </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and sometimes sing songs. Dovid would tell the boys long winding and totally unbelievable stories about Moishe Pipik, a little boy that builds a spaceship from junk he finds. Often, the boys spent the night with Hannah Leah and Dovid. Around the time that the boys began their schooling, they began living with their grandparents full time. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar rarely slept through the night. She would eat </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">majoun </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and play soulful music on her violin late into the night. Then, through the void, she would engage in extensive conversations with Baruch and Shmuli. Of course, she had left the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yeshiva bochers </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">behind in Seaside Mea Shearim, New New York, on Planet Birobidzhan. The conversations, however, were very real for Tamar. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> proceeded, unencumbered on a set trajectory through the void. The people on board lived their lives and grew older. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Years transpired before the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">came within range of the wormhole. Everyone was aware that going into a wormhole would likely be a horrendous experience. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The emigrants also were aware that traveling through this wormhole was an unavoidable necessity. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">A fold in space/time opens up totally new vistas and presents unknown constellations. The actual search for habitable planets could only begin in earnest after transpiring through the wormhole. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was much warranted anxiety before the drop. The emigrants aboard the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">prepared themselves as they each saw fit. Some prayed and fasted. Others took a more proactive approach to warding off the discomfort that they reasonably expected. There was an awful lot of schnapps consumed in the days leading up to the drop into the wormhole. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nothing anyone did made the transition through the fold of space/time any easier. There was a lot of physical discomfort, much puking and several spontaneous abortions. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emerging from the wormhole left the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mentshn </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">aboard the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">discomforted for days. A melancholy overtook the ship and it was hard to shake. Like a period of bad weather, a cloud hung over the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And, like the weather, the cloud that hung over the emigrants eventually lifted and spirits improved. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Several months after emerging from the wormhole, the first planet that showed potential for supporting life was detected by the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah's </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">computer. The technicians named that planet </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rishon</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Hebrew for first. After a closer examination, they had determined that it was not worthy of settlement. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the ship's sensor alerted the technicians of a second possibly livable world, they all tried to temper their optimism. They named this second planet </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shneya</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, meaning second. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">came closer within range of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shneya</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, all of the computer analysis continued to be positive. It certainly seemed that the emigrants from Planet Birobidzhan had found themselves a world to live on.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The planet has breathable air with a slightly richer oxygen mixture than Planet Birobidzhan. It is a bit larger resulting in stronger gravity pull, making everything seem slightly heavier. There is plenty of potable water. It rains heavily in the spring and summer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snow falls frequently beginning in early autumn and throughout the winter. There are deep and wide rivers that run year round except when they freeze over. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The average temperatures on this planet are significantly lower than on Planet Birobidzhan. The higher mountains have snow all the time. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Summers are cooler than the spring or autumn on Planet Birobidzhan. Occasionally snow or hail will occur even in the summer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sheep thrive on this planet. Their wool grows thicker and they are meatier than any sheep that are raised on Planet Birobidzhan. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The emigrants found adapting to the cold difficult, although wool clothing certainly helped. The children born in transit, however, made a fairly smooth transition. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The parents, born and raised on Planet Birobidzhan, wore multiple layers of clothing and never seemed quite comfortable. The children run barefoot even in winter and readily shed their clothing in the summertime. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The irony that the Hebrew word for "second" sounds so similar to the Yiddish word for "snow" was lost on no one. It was not long after landing that the new settlers all began calling the place Planet Shney rather than Planet Shneya. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7WN_30bmfMCLrN11KWbq6sBCzKzlerzthSQ6ebgakMC_ll2O0etJTnTSBcLsPwIcVCUw4g7Vf2WSd59_mI2yaejtRYJnYgI-IQyQ3HBjaewKldQ_h12C86Aej_BY7VL3sAbyQOvXDWcbn170nd0VUmNn5jUORlUFBJsvZPf5n7uD67fnG1maCG5CvQ/s3288/FlJ1wswXgAAAnw5_1672395821647.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3288" data-original-width="2649" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7WN_30bmfMCLrN11KWbq6sBCzKzlerzthSQ6ebgakMC_ll2O0etJTnTSBcLsPwIcVCUw4g7Vf2WSd59_mI2yaejtRYJnYgI-IQyQ3HBjaewKldQ_h12C86Aej_BY7VL3sAbyQOvXDWcbn170nd0VUmNn5jUORlUFBJsvZPf5n7uD67fnG1maCG5CvQ/s320/FlJ1wswXgAAAnw5_1672395821647.webp" width="258" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-cc3c353f-7fff-6de1-51d5-58f1fa8f9e2f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-cc3c353f-7fff-6de1-51d5-58f1fa8f9e2f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">פּלאַנעט ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-09cb5ef7-7fff-84af-5cd7-cbac71769acb" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-09cb5ef7-7fff-84af-5cd7-cbac71769acb" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-11767132240824010612023-01-19T03:11:00.007-08:002023-01-25T00:28:34.968-08:00Liftoff Into the Unknown <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQ_b44IzE_rQeJK6wj3dpuSDOohrCjUGhewHLhMZSy2-gVIHYEWHF9-UhVJDVQBBIraJHXHPlti3u5uVOTeSJyjqj6cd4TLMCMSaRxBUwiipGhZHqX0S94ISBQW8f5ACgfU4U61VZ-8n2PV-qG64DoNLy_VfrHXHNcUpvIFqwPrA3GwuUiScVGJzp6A/s1896/FlJ10Y9X0AEsf0u_1672395763305.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1830" data-original-width="1896" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQ_b44IzE_rQeJK6wj3dpuSDOohrCjUGhewHLhMZSy2-gVIHYEWHF9-UhVJDVQBBIraJHXHPlti3u5uVOTeSJyjqj6cd4TLMCMSaRxBUwiipGhZHqX0S94ISBQW8f5ACgfU4U61VZ-8n2PV-qG64DoNLy_VfrHXHNcUpvIFqwPrA3GwuUiScVGJzp6A/s320/FlJ10Y9X0AEsf0u_1672395763305.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p>by Zvi Baranoff </p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-5c5710b0-7fff-9978-5b90-8af13009efd7" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next morning, Tamar was up before dawn. She paced about waiting for her work crew to arrive. Dovid was also up, sorting personal possessions and waiting for enough daylight to resume loading supplies aboard the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar and her crew had the mushroom growing facility successfully moved aboard the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">although they had to work late into the night. The workmen were none too pleased about the grueling pace and the exacting demands of the supervisor. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some of the men working under Tamar's watchful eyes had built the initial facility. They remembered the little girl with the rag doll that terrorized them over a decade before. They found Tamar, as an adult, to be no less demanding and just as difficult to work for. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The chickens, goats and sheep were all settled in before sunset. Dovid oversaw the boarding of the livestock and appreciated that the complaints from that element were minimal. However, Dovid was interrupted periodically by other managerial responsibilities. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some of the passengers had already begun boarding. People are a lot more demanding than sheep or goats. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The personal possessions of each passenger was limited to what each could carry. The emigrants carried their possessions in suitcases or tied up in bedding. Everyone pushed the limits and no one was pleased when the limits pushed back. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The complaints and arguments from these emigrant Yidden mostly were smoothed over with Dovid's intervention, but the effort was exhausting and emotionally draining. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid went to bed early and he slept like the dead. Around midnight, he was awakened by Rifka Leeba. She climbed into bed and pressed herself against him. They made love that night with a passion that rekindled memories of their courtship. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first roosters could be heard crowing before Dovid began to drift off to sleep. Rifka Leeba, however, determined that the time had come for a conversation and that sleeping was not an option. She rested her head in the crook of her husband's arm. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Dovid," Rifka Leeba began. "I am not going with you. I am staying on Planet Birobidzhan."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">"How can that be?" Dovid asked. "You are my wife and my heart of hearts. Of course you are coming with me," Dovid told her. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tears ran down Rifka Leeba's face and dripped onto Dovid's arm. She shook her head ever so slightly before continuing to speak. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"All of my </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kinder </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">are here and some grandchildren and there will be more grandchildren soon. I am not leaving them." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Also," Rifka Leeba continued, "your momma, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mayn shviger</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, is here. She is growing older and shouldn't be alone. She can't live on her own. She needs help. I am going to live with your momma. You will go to the stars without me."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid had not given much thought to his mother's needs since the death of his father.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Momma has other children," Dovid told Rifka Leeba. "They can watch out for her."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Oh, your momma is a mean spirited and cantankerous old woman. She has driven away all of her other children. Besides that," Rifka Leeba reminded Dovid, "you are the only one she ever showed real affection to. Your momma loved you and now I am responsible for her," she said emphatically. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid looked at his wife. "We could still have more </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kinder, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you and I."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rifka Leeba rolled her eyes and touched her pelvis, just above the patch of hair. "I have not had a baby for more than a dozen years. This well has run dry. There won't be any more </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kinder </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">through me." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rifka Leeba never told Dovid that she restarted the herbal regimen that she had learned from his mother to keep from becoming pregnant. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As far as Dovid knew, the barrenness that Rifka Leeba suffered from when they were first married had returned. Female reproduction was mostly a mystery to her husband and, besides, she considered her womb to be none of his business. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid drifted into sleep for a bit around first light. When he awoke, Rifka Leeba was no longer in bed. Rifka Leeba was walking in the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shtetl</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> where her husband had been born, along the goat path, towards her mother-in-law's house.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On board the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the passengers were nervously awaiting liftoff. Dovid and his technicians were running about the tarmac making the final inspection and last minute tests of equipment. This was when Tamar approached her father. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tate,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" Tamar said, "We have decided to go along." She patted her abdomen. "We discussed it, the boys and I. If there is room for us, we want to go…if we can bring my musical instruments."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The crates of instruments were stacked in the house. They were certainly more than any one person could carry. There was no way they fit the personal property limitations that were set for passengers on the Hatikvah. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid had the crates of instruments piled on a cart. He marked the crates as "Essential Agricultural Equipment". He ordered them to be loaded onto the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and Tamar were the last to board before the door of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was sealed and the final countdown began. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Liftoff was flawless. It was also not a moment too soon. A swarm of angry investors had arrived at the airport. The crowd intended to salvage some of their losses, if possible, and perhaps execute some level of punishment on the perpetrators of the fraud. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instead of enacting justice, those on the tarmac found themselves standing in clouds of dust, smoke, and fumes. The </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ascended into the sky above First Landing. The </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">heading into the void and the unknown. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZWJdrlxCgf6WmILi_OiNHdsB7FyDIBU98mNAt4NJ5puRwhh4CCjK3DIUjnyhOifFzYlo0ew99QFe-Qo8IJ247gfog2U8hol835VI0RZXS7a6-r5tQXfph-XkJ9iTpkHQYThDZhg7YLJN5G6erpzbmkBeWKDAcOtTZuCh9UkZBURxFzYkgu9s31Fli8w/s698/49322b9b-01c9-43b6-a87e-e4d6e06ae6c7-fkbnaecxkaapjfl.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="698" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZWJdrlxCgf6WmILi_OiNHdsB7FyDIBU98mNAt4NJ5puRwhh4CCjK3DIUjnyhOifFzYlo0ew99QFe-Qo8IJ247gfog2U8hol835VI0RZXS7a6-r5tQXfph-XkJ9iTpkHQYThDZhg7YLJN5G6erpzbmkBeWKDAcOtTZuCh9UkZBURxFzYkgu9s31Fli8w/s320/49322b9b-01c9-43b6-a87e-e4d6e06ae6c7-fkbnaecxkaapjfl.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-26864832-7fff-778d-e8e6-2c016f96792b" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KEoG2UWplg3TKR_EEaWC8LLUoMsN-oPSASpStUZa1dDEU08Vm-KynAjksGB5Mw9FcR-qFsroegShhwPEj1S9qQT5rfUIakPFcui6mGl08R0S02QaqU0yLQSZ794vTX8PuK9XAG3sqMtNw_FFIpsyPRZFjzqi8c75SEzSy4PBpXBbtcwlrLxzQ5d4dw/s812/webb-image-of-cartwheel-galaxy-mri.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="812" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KEoG2UWplg3TKR_EEaWC8LLUoMsN-oPSASpStUZa1dDEU08Vm-KynAjksGB5Mw9FcR-qFsroegShhwPEj1S9qQT5rfUIakPFcui6mGl08R0S02QaqU0yLQSZ794vTX8PuK9XAG3sqMtNw_FFIpsyPRZFjzqi8c75SEzSy4PBpXBbtcwlrLxzQ5d4dw/s320/webb-image-of-cartwheel-galaxy-mri.jpg" width="303" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">פּלאַנעט</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">ביראָבידזשאַן</span></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-ecd6e96c-7fff-6162-c4e0-6dddf0dd4e4a" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-7658815884661202102023-01-18T02:20:00.006-08:002023-01-25T00:29:10.134-08:00The Launch Was Imminent <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP_VOzNexAq1IQhGwtuMLoWSYhpOCExxGGUg_KqmbHkG7YpxC351-bQGwa4tMISLOpid41r7kiRza5f9VrM9KL20_-fnI1-SALZ9PxQtc2Q4wBIdGzF3RjBWohJfsE8K5aVXW1-yljkKtcd6vgZDEZftGddkLDBy78jhDPNbXEMpGsnRuRkSzRY28UWA/s720/ring-galaxy-nasa1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="720" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP_VOzNexAq1IQhGwtuMLoWSYhpOCExxGGUg_KqmbHkG7YpxC351-bQGwa4tMISLOpid41r7kiRza5f9VrM9KL20_-fnI1-SALZ9PxQtc2Q4wBIdGzF3RjBWohJfsE8K5aVXW1-yljkKtcd6vgZDEZftGddkLDBy78jhDPNbXEMpGsnRuRkSzRY28UWA/s320/ring-galaxy-nasa1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>by Zvi Baranoff </p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-ce2309e1-7fff-a98b-cbc0-b8f538f75589" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar left her rucksack and violin in the foyer and started towards the kitchen with her father. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suddenly, Tamar clamped her hands over her ears. "Just stop!" she yelled. "Don't you two ever stop bickering?" she cried out in exasperation. Her face grimaced and she was taking short and grasping breaths. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid gazed alarmingly at his daughter. Tamar was evidently distraught and in pain. He stepped closer and reached out towards her. She flailed her arms about until he stepped back.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a while, calm returned to Tamar's countenance. Her breathing once again became more relaxed and regular. She pushed back tears. The quivering stopped and the visible tension and pain receded. Tamar stroked her extended abdomen before she began speaking. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">"They are always fighting, always arguing. These two, they are just like their fathers."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid looked at his daughter quizzically but refrained from voicing an actual question. They resumed walking towards the kitchen. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The house was a jumbled </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">balagan. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were piles of everything, everywhere. There were boxes stacked. There were overflowing trashcans. A sorting process going on. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The retrofit and design work on the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was finished. Fuel had been loaded. All the mechanisms had been thoroughly tested. The hydroponic gardens were already up and running. The pens for the chickens, goats and sheep were ready for the livestock that would feed the passengers and be bred to feed their descendants. The launch was imminent. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The loading of personal items had already begun. Only some of the family belongings were destined for the stars. The rest would remain on Planet Birobidzhan. Some heirlooms and precious items were destined for delivery to family and friends. Much would be simply abandoned. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Similar calculations and evaluations were taking place in several hundred households in First Landing and the surrounding region. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lifted towards the stars, around eight hundred Yidden would be leaving Planet Birobidzhan behind. Each of the eight hundred were also leaving behind parents and children, friends and loved ones, and much of their personal possessions. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were difficult decisions to be made. Tensions and discordant emotions were at play in each of these households. Some relationships were strained to the breaking point. It is not easy to leave one's world behind. Even the most committed to the expedition felt stressful as the liftoff time approached.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">For Dovid, Rifka Leeba, and Hannah Leah, no less than anyone else, these were difficult times. Although they each knew that they planned to leave Planet Birobidzhan behind for a very long time, they still had much physical and emotional baggage to process. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most of the family's children were past the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bar Mitzvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">age and were now living elsewhere. They had families of their own. The </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kinder</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> were busy raising their own </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kinder</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. None chose to join the expedition. There were only a handful of younger children still at home that were too young to make their own decisions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the kitchen, Rifka Leeba was cooking. A kettle was whistling. Hannah Leah was nursing the most recent addition to the brood. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar and Dovid sat at the table in the next room, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">schmoozing. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They ate breakfast as they talked. Their conversation spanned the globe, the universe and galaxies. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar told Dovid about her pleasant apartment above the bakery, in Seaside Mea Shearim, New New York. She spoke of her dear friends, Baruch and Shmuli and the close bond the three have. Tamar most emphatically believed that she was carrying twin boys and that each was fathered by one of these nice </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yeshiva bochers. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar spoke in run-on superlatives about the beauty of the Tropics of Birobidzhan. The beaches were spectacular beyond comparison. The people of the region were friendly, open and welcoming. The food eaten there was flavorful, filled with exotic spices. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">To anyone listening, it would have been abundantly clear that Tamar found the people that she loved and a region of Planet Birobidzhan that filled her heart and touched her soul. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid was deeply relieved that Tamar had come home before the departure of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She was, after all, his favorite daughter. He did not want to leave this world without saying goodbye. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, neither father nor daughter were really ready for goodbyes. They were finishing eating and Dovid was preparing to resume the work at hand. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar was speaking to her unborn children, begging them for a little tranquility, while she helped to clear the table. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With no transition whatsoever, Tamar turned to address her father. She patted her abdomen once more. "I know that I am not much use these days with physical projects but if you give me a work crew, tomorrow morning I will oversee the transfer of the Mushrooms of Birobidzhan to their new growing facilities aboard the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid was surprised and relieved by Tamar's offer. No one else on Planet Birobidzhan thoroughly understood the cultivation of the Mushrooms of Birobidzhan better than Tamar. After all, the Mushrooms had chosen her.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4FU0_Ya0S5hixcrw4hIj_-WUx6UQZIqyRplGZmDdsXVgzDekII60j10jtXS5u4bI3F0ShupxL1qrGv5lx-2xkm7IT_k2qwKqQaiJXaafTB2Fo71HrsRZzpab0WZQCyk1aXix8tmpw8t8UwKKx5yjcwQK6o1TopCtmhH-85sxbp6FhRE_EczVOWd8lXA/s768/GreenTendrilsOfGasBetweenStarsMilkyWay-768x755.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="768" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4FU0_Ya0S5hixcrw4hIj_-WUx6UQZIqyRplGZmDdsXVgzDekII60j10jtXS5u4bI3F0ShupxL1qrGv5lx-2xkm7IT_k2qwKqQaiJXaafTB2Fo71HrsRZzpab0WZQCyk1aXix8tmpw8t8UwKKx5yjcwQK6o1TopCtmhH-85sxbp6FhRE_EczVOWd8lXA/s320/GreenTendrilsOfGasBetweenStarsMilkyWay-768x755.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-1187093d-7fff-e66c-501e-828118400006" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><br /><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">פּלאַנעט ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFx0QwwROfG_Oc38J1g_0HiDiJ-O2nnoaO74JY4kLNDI1M6CcPxwkxlp42jtamOXzCoBV818SkDx0JOf2ZYXMz961n5Inz3RzJ2EfP0vOLYJhwy8PTeoLcJtP4ojVKfw6IZvB2JSMWe8TTi4kDmVdI_owG7trWUf-9eQ87WNOUyLGxjKhsPOKh3htlA/s414/CrabNebula_Hubble_960_1673765827749_1673765842040_1673765842040.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="414" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFx0QwwROfG_Oc38J1g_0HiDiJ-O2nnoaO74JY4kLNDI1M6CcPxwkxlp42jtamOXzCoBV818SkDx0JOf2ZYXMz961n5Inz3RzJ2EfP0vOLYJhwy8PTeoLcJtP4ojVKfw6IZvB2JSMWe8TTi4kDmVdI_owG7trWUf-9eQ87WNOUyLGxjKhsPOKh3htlA/s320/CrabNebula_Hubble_960_1673765827749_1673765842040_1673765842040.webp" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-851bdfcd-7fff-f953-35ff-49d900d45576" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><br /><p><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-32714352140177014102023-01-15T17:26:00.005-08:002023-01-25T00:29:35.017-08:00A Pre-launch Reunion <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ_KzRqbkkgMkOeCKLrY9-1zTJXYTGVg81fpdol61_dWBpDhoRAmS-K2cq5JQ-SyF1CXPujxCGlP7ZNKENJABWSBwmjRctBA6xPGqJBz4D-wkMxVE2eTYqadDgHvbwSo3HDPmZ3PabPfUUdT6uUKrD7nGqQnyiAbMe94ucUv1W4RBWTYMOKmws4NQiIw/s414/CrabNebula_Hubble_960_1673765827749_1673765842040_1673765842040.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="414" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ_KzRqbkkgMkOeCKLrY9-1zTJXYTGVg81fpdol61_dWBpDhoRAmS-K2cq5JQ-SyF1CXPujxCGlP7ZNKENJABWSBwmjRctBA6xPGqJBz4D-wkMxVE2eTYqadDgHvbwSo3HDPmZ3PabPfUUdT6uUKrD7nGqQnyiAbMe94ucUv1W4RBWTYMOKmws4NQiIw/s320/CrabNebula_Hubble_960_1673765827749_1673765842040_1673765842040.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>by Zvi Baranoff </p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-60e59560-7fff-5f62-a6de-8da600ecff55" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid had his crews working in twelve hour shifts, nonstop from early morning on every </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sontag</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> until late into the afternoons every </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Freytag, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with barely a break for </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shabbos</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sense of urgency was palatable. Dovid and his inner circle knew that they were racing against the clock. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suspicion about the finances were growing by the day. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Der Profesor</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> had played a major role in camouflaging the irregularities of the operation. He was trusted globally. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Der Profesor</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> used that trust diligently and to the utmost in the interests of the project. Dovid was widely liked and even appreciated but he lacked the reputation of his mentor and the innate ability to deceive. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The two track plan was, of course, a sham. There was no actual mission to the Home Planet. As time spiraled forward, the complexity of the lies required more creative subterfuge and illusory constructs. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Initially, the consortium suggested sending a drone on a mission to Earth. This was a low cost and low energy approach and was even actually doable. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The idea of a drone, however, had little appeal to anyone. There were, indeed, some very practical reasons why sending a drone to the Home Planet might be a fool's errand. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More significantly, a drone was not proactive enough to capture the interest of any deep pocket investors. A lot of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gelt </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was needed for the true goal, that is, to finance the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> expedition. A more marketable story was needed. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The consortium's public proclamations that a diplomatic and trade mission would be sent to Earth was a lie that needed to be believed by the general public and, most importantly, by the financial victims of the ponzi scheme. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The consortium dragged its feet but ultimately had to provide a plausible show. To that effect, they began a recruitment process for the supposed mission. An evident public mission resulted in all sorts of public input. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">After much back and forth, it was determined that eighteen men would be sent and that they should be representative of the religious and business communities of Planet Birobidzhan. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">An approval process was needed, even for a fake mission. When the eighteen supposed representatives were chosen, they were housed at a barrack adjacent to the airport and were put through a "training mission" for the nonexistent mission. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">These eighteen volunteers were beginning to get anxious to be on their way. Of course, there was no functioning ship to take them anywhere. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> needed to be off the tarmac and heading to the stars, before everything unraveled and Dovid's inner circle faced the repercussions of Planet Birobidzhan's equivalent of a tar and feathering. The guidance that Dovid received from the Mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan was of no help to sort through such human concerns. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nearly three years had passed since Tamar had left First Landing with the traveling troupe of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">klezmorim</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. A few very short letters arrived from her as well as some picture postcards. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After an extended gap in communication, and with no explanation, the crates with Tamar's musical instruments and clothing were delivered. A few days later, a picture postcard from Eilat arrived. Then, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nisht gornisht</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, not a word</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nor even a hint of communication or a clue as to where she was and what she was doing. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar arrived in First Landing by train early in the morning, shortly after </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sukkos</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. She had informed no one that she was on her way. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The First Landing airport serves as the train station as well so it was easy enough for Tamar to walk to the family home, even with her enlarged torso. Her rucksack was on her back and her violin case was in hand. Tamar's arrival was unexpected. Her family was unaware of her advanced pregnancy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The morning light was just creeping over the horizon when Tamar appeared at the family home. At that early hour, Tamar surprised her father. She was nearly as surprised herself to find Dovid already up and working at a feverish pace. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid was thrilled to see Tamar, his favorite child of the "dozen or so" </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kinder</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. He was also anxious about the work he had been doing. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid's first inclination was postponing the reunion until he was done working. Tamar patted her abdomen and said emphatically, "We must eat!" </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar presented the same face and gestures that she had used to manipulate his heart since she was a baby. Dovid could never resist her demands when she was small and he still couldn't. Dovid put down the box that was in his hands and they headed together to the family kitchen. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBvASGQEwt111444TTxXulopSyO2j-sa7Us8WCOVm23wtCTCeKdvBZrJsjFI86RidWnxAy5-y3TmAlcZVEAeL7pWwg84Ry6sI0HcRUA3cROFHoLkeYaxG6wJSJ0Jyd4C6ZgqQXKTgo4yzz0_1S5w-2TevGR5pBbFYMaP0wiKVmpe5Rh9hM3yMU9Ndd1w/s425/7A042CB8-2689-4B33-BA2C5F86C349C03C_source.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="390" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBvASGQEwt111444TTxXulopSyO2j-sa7Us8WCOVm23wtCTCeKdvBZrJsjFI86RidWnxAy5-y3TmAlcZVEAeL7pWwg84Ry6sI0HcRUA3cROFHoLkeYaxG6wJSJ0Jyd4C6ZgqQXKTgo4yzz0_1S5w-2TevGR5pBbFYMaP0wiKVmpe5Rh9hM3yMU9Ndd1w/s320/7A042CB8-2689-4B33-BA2C5F86C349C03C_source.jpg" width="294" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-a00c42c3-7fff-6e36-3ee6-cfb571997dc7" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-a00c42c3-7fff-6e36-3ee6-cfb571997dc7" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">פּלאַנעט ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-d0755b46-7fff-ae84-4fbd-81cbfc6396cf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-52426233568343730702023-01-12T19:41:00.017-08:002023-01-25T01:10:59.323-08:00A Useful Guide & Glossary to the Planet Birobidzhan Tale <p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="rtl" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">פּלאַנעט ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The Glossary</b></span> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br id="docs-internal-guid-0916b57d-7fff-2555-92f8-3aa41f104f6a" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abi Guzunt</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - interj. As long as you're healthy [you can be happy]</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aish Zerah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - (eish zerah) literally translate to: “a strange fire”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aleph Beis</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - alphabet, the first two letters of the alphabet (א,ב)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ales iz gut</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - All is well</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apikores</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - heretic</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">arayn</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - shtel arayn, "put in" when gambling with a dreidl </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aun Vas</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - and what</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Baal Shem Tov</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Israel ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov or as the Besht, was a Jewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">babka</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a sweet braided bread</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">balagan</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a total mess (derived from Russian)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">balabusta</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a good homemaker, also can mean a landlady </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bar Mitzvah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - literally, son of commandment, it is a coming-of-age ritual that takes place at the age of 13</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bar Mitzvah Bochur</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a thirteen year old </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bashert </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- generally used to refer to a soulmate, actually translates better as destiny.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bebl</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a bean</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beit Din</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> literally house of justice, it is a religious court</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">berakhah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a blessing </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">berala</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a teddy bear</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bissel</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a little </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochur</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - boy or young man </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">borscht</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a type of soup, generally cabbage or beet</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bromayzer</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Jews Harp </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bubbie</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - grandmother </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bulbes</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - potatoes, derives from Lithuanian bulve</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">chai</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> - life, the Hebrew letters (חי) refers also to the number eighteen </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">challah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- a braided white bread eaten particularly on Shabbos and Holidays </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chaverim</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - friends, companions, associates, members of an organization, partners </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cheder </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- a one room school, literally a room in Hebrew </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cholent </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- a slow cooked stew usually for the Sabbath </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chuppah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- literally, "canopy" or "covering" this refers to the Jewish marriage ceremony </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chutzpah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- extreme self-confidence or audacity</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Danershtag</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Thursday </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">das iz alts</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - that is all</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">daven </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- to pray</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derekh Eretz </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- respect, literally the way of the land</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Der Profesor </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- The Professor</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dire gelt </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- rent, literally apartment money </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">donning tefillin </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- putting on phylacteries, a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls. This is a daily religious practice (except for Shabbos and Holidays) which is performed by men in the morning while </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">davening</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shacharis</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dreyen</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - to spin a dreidl </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dreidl</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a top associated with Hanukkah, dreidel </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dybbuk </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- a malicious possessing spirit</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eretz Yisrael</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - the Land of Israel </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">esrogim </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- citrons, a citrus fruit associated with Sukkos (Sukkot)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">es tut mir layd</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - I am sorry, literally it causes me pain </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">farsheteyt</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - understand </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">farvas</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - why</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fentster</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - window </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ferd</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - horse </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ferd flig</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - horsefly</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fidele</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - fiddle, violin </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">flig</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - fly</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">foigel</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - bird</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fremd Feyer</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - foreign fire</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Galus</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - exile, Diaspora </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gan Eden</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Garden of Eden, Paradise </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gants</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - whole </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gantze</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - whole </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gantze mishpacha</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - the whole family </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gefilte fish</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - literally stuffed fish, a dish made from a poached mixture of ground deboned fish</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gelt</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - money </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gimel</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - third letter of the alphabet (ג). When gambling with a dreidl, if it lands on Gimel, one takes the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gantze</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(whole) pot.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Glatt Kosher </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- stringently kosher </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gornisht</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - nothing </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gonif</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - thief</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">goyim</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - gentiles </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">groys</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - big</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">guzunt</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - health </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">halachic </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- Jewish Law</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hamantaschen</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a three cornered pastry associated with Purim </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hamsa</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a palm-shaped amulet popular throughout North Africa and in the Middle East</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hasidic </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- a mystical Jewish movement founded in Poland in the 18th century (see Baal Shem Tov)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hatikvah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - hope in Hebrew </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Havdalah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - the ceremony that marks the end of the Sabbath </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hebraists</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Hebrew scholar or advocate </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hechsher</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - certification of food being kosher </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">henna</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a dye used by Sephardic and Mizrahi women in a pre-wedding ceremony </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Haredi </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- ultra-Orthodox</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hoyz</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - house </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hoyz flig</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - house fly </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ikh vis nisht</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - I don't know </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kabbalists</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Kabbalah is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. Kabbalists are the practitioners of Kabbalah. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kadish</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - literally holy, a prayer of mourning </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kashrus/kashrut</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - pertaining to dietary laws (kosher)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">keinehora</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - from the Hebrew, Kein Ayin Hara, meaning no evil eye. It is said to ward off harm, often accompanied with spitting. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ketschele</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - kitten, little kitten, a term of endearment </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">khius </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- animals </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kibbutz</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a communal farm</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kibbutzniks</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - people that live on a kibbutz </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kibbutzim</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - plural of kibbutz </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kikhlekh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - cookies </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kind</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - child </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kinder</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - plural of kind</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">klezmorim</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - musicians </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kneidelach</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - matzah ball, a dumpling </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">knipple</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a woman's secret stash of money, from the word knip, meaning a pinch.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">knish</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a deep fried or baked snack </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kosher</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - food fit to eat according to law and customs </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">krom</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - store </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kugel</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a casserole made of noodles or potatoes </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kukuriku!</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - This is the sound that roosters make in Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian, Polish… Why do English-speaking roosters say "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"? </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ikh vis nisht</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kurvah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a whore</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kvelled</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - delighted, joyed</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kvetching</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - complaining </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lakht </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- laughs</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">latkes </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- potato pancakes </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">l'chaim </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- To Life! Used as a toast</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Leviathan </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- a Biblical sea monster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">macht a leben</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - make (earn) a living</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mamaloshen</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Yiddish, literally mother tongue</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Magen David Adom</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Red Shield of David, or Red Star of David. It is the Israeli affiliate of the International Red Cross </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">majoun </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- a North African candy made with hashish and dates</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mamzers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - bastards</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Man</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - husband </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mantik</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Monday </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mantik aun Danershtag</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Monday and Thursday. The Torah is read on those days. They are also traditional market days. It is sometimes used to mean frequently </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mayn</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - my</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mazel</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - luck</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mechayeh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a pleasure</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meditsinish Gortns</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - medical gardens</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Megillah Esther</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - the Scroll of Esther, the Book of Esther, read on Purim </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">melameds</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - teachers</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mentsh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a man, a good person</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mentshn</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - people, human beings</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">meshugganah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - crazy</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">meydls</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - girls, young women </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">meydl mit a fidele</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a girl with a violin</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mezuzah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - literally a door post, it is a parchment in a decorative case affixed to the doorframe</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mikvah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - ritual bathhouse</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mincha aun maariv</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - afternoon and evening prayers, usually practiced with little or no break between the two sets </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">minyan</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a quorum for prayer</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mishegoss</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - nonsense</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mishpacha</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - family</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mit</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - with</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mitvakh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Wednesday</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mitzvah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a religious commandment</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mizrahi</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - North African and Middle Eastern Jews</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mohel</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - performs ritual circumcision</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moishe Pipik </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- a nonsense name, literally Moses' Belly Button </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mommala</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a term of endearment for a small child, literally little momma </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moshe</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Moses </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moshiach</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Messiah </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">munn</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - poppy seeds </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">muzik</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - music</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nachas</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - pride or gratification </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nikal</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a nickel </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nisht</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - not</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nisht gornisht </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- nothing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">neshumeh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - soul </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">oder</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - or</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">oy</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Used to express surprise, pain, grief, worry, etc</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">offen</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - on</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">payos</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - side curls, based on an interpretation of the Tanakh's injunction against shaving the "sides" of one's head.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">peniz </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- pennies </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">peniz oder a nikal</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - pennies or a nickel </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pesach</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Passover </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pisher</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a very young person, literally one that urinates</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">planirt </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">plan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">potch</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a smack</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Profesor</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Professor</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">punim </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- face</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Purim Meydls</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Purim Girls, in this story it refers to young women that become pregnant during the celebration of Purim. This is a totally fictionalized concept. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Rabbi </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">- Jewish teacher or religious leader </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reb </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- an honorific similar to Mr.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rebbetzin </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- a rabbi's wife </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">rishon </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- first in Hebrew </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sabbatai Zevi</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a Messianic figure (false Messiah) in the 1600s</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sephardic </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- Jewish diaspora population associated with the Iberian Peninsula</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shabbos</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Sabbath, Saturday</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shacharis</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - morning prayers</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shechinah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God's divine presence, often understood as the feminine aspect of God</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">schlepping</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - carrying, hauling</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">schmoozing </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- chatting </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">schnorrer</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - begger, sponger</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shidduch</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - arranged marriage</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shin</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - A letter in the alphabet (ש). When gambling with a dreidl, if it lands on </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shin, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">one must </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shtel arayn</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (put money into the pot).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shney </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- snow </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shneya</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - second in Hebrew </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shochet</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a ritual slaughter, a butcher</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shomer Shabbos</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - literally guarding the Sabbath, this refers to a strict observance</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shofars</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - ram horns</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shpilplats</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - playgrounds</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shprakh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - language</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shtel arayn</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - put in (when gambling with a dreidl)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shtisl</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a pot. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A bisl aun a bisl vert a ful shtisl </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- a little and a little make a full pot.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shraybmashin</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - typewriter</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shtarkers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - hard guys, gangsters</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shtetl</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a small town</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shtick</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - gimmick, talent</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shtikel</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a piece</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shtot</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a city </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shul</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - synagogue or house of prayer, school, from German Schule</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shviger</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - mother-in-law </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sit Shiva</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - the seven days of mourning</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sontag</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Sunday</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sukkos/Sukkot</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - the harvest festival which is a major holiday </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">tallis</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> - ritual prayer shawl worn by men</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tallis katan</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - an undershirt with ritual fringes</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - the name is also Hebrew for date</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanakh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - the Jewish Bible, (Torah, the Nevi'im, and the Ketuvim). Christians call this the Old Testament </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tantele</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - term of endearment for a small child, literally little father </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tate</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - father</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tefillin</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - (phylacteries) are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls of parchment</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tish</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - table</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">toches</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - bottom, rear-end </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">toyre</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Torah, the Five Books of Moses </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">traif</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - not kosher</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tsatske aun Muzik Krom</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Trinkets and Music Store</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tsenter Shtot</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - City Center</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tsibeles</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - onions </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tuches</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - butt</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tuches offen tish</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a serious commitment, literally to put one's butt on the table </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tsufus </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on foot </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tzimmes</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a sweet side dish usually made primarily carrots with fruit, the German zuomuose. Tzimmes colloquially means a big fuss or commotion.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tzitzis</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - knotted ritual fringes</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vas</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - what</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vashzimmer</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> washroom, bathroom </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vayb </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- wife</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vayikra</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - the Biblical book of Leviticus</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vilde </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- wild</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vilde khius </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wild animals </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vindow</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - window </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yarmulke</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a skullcap </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yenne Velt</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - literally another world, Heaven, death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yeshiva</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a religious school </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yeshiva bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - students, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">boocher</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is literally a boy</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yid</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a Jew</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yidden</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Jews</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yiddishkeit </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- the Jewish way of life, Jewish culture </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yingela</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a boy, a youngster </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">zaydeh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - grandfather </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">zhargon</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - jargon </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">zhurnal</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - journal </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zoologisher Gortn</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - zoological garden, a zoo</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjOsI7NFSFE59a9N1oP3W_gOhSa8Hf3XSGOtrtGwO6iJzXfYrl-FvWs4DodDMnK_xo_098zaVk8BlhAlW6OQpNbIWeqpYBbl5pt0mpzEx87PiQ-vUQKAqDrR6eT5DBx6VJIBRqMMbxkBAA86DeTgiEHhlWgDI4NN5lKkk1o90ztj2dufwwbiefg9rEkw/s1280/how-did-the-butterfly.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="1280" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjOsI7NFSFE59a9N1oP3W_gOhSa8Hf3XSGOtrtGwO6iJzXfYrl-FvWs4DodDMnK_xo_098zaVk8BlhAlW6OQpNbIWeqpYBbl5pt0mpzEx87PiQ-vUQKAqDrR6eT5DBx6VJIBRqMMbxkBAA86DeTgiEHhlWgDI4NN5lKkk1o90ztj2dufwwbiefg9rEkw/s320/how-did-the-butterfly.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0d125319-7fff-f3b9-adca-b80d5f28a185" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><br /></div></div>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-62584895744269062392023-01-09T03:24:00.016-08:002023-01-25T00:30:24.230-08:00The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ6aKtE5Yjg_yM4TmM-LoMSLhMbl8H8zU2EXtSfO-zvopz_71PAiNLyGvwzcLDvEahFo_DDV3x8VmJhovmnUb6Ft-eQo-OHWjOPW0-x26pT7Nh6ln2LhBO2IjaxZqKKCnQcJfx1TUPr1uI_Uu7mHlYS1wPTlQmlLFf_MpsgkQRoQ_ng6GclrxsfWmRMA/s768/Dark-Mysterious-Outer-Space-Bright-Stars-Illustration-768x512.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ6aKtE5Yjg_yM4TmM-LoMSLhMbl8H8zU2EXtSfO-zvopz_71PAiNLyGvwzcLDvEahFo_DDV3x8VmJhovmnUb6Ft-eQo-OHWjOPW0-x26pT7Nh6ln2LhBO2IjaxZqKKCnQcJfx1TUPr1uI_Uu7mHlYS1wPTlQmlLFf_MpsgkQRoQ_ng6GclrxsfWmRMA/s320/Dark-Mysterious-Outer-Space-Bright-Stars-Illustration-768x512.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /> by Zvi Baranoff <p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-fb27c366-7fff-f383-48e2-ef754ed1db5f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The guest house that Tamar had chosen was clean and airy. The room was brightly painted and pleasant. The bed was comfortable. The ceiling fan cooled the room. Yet, Tamar could not sleep. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar turned one way and then another. There was no position that allowed for comfortable sleep. She felt like the princess in the ancient tale </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mit a bebl </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">under her mattress. Something infinitesimal and unseen was so disruptive that sleeping in the guest house was impossible. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When exhaustion would start to supersede discomfort and Tamar's eyelids grew heavy, she would then hear the voices, arguing. Tamar would bolt straight up, looking around for Baruch and Shmuli. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">All around her, there was darkness and the room was empty. The bickering voices would fade and then go silent. Again, Tamar would try to sleep but rest never came. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar had nearly given up all hope for sleep. She went to the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vashzimmer</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and splashed her face with water. She looked at herself in the mirror and hardly recognized the reflection. She was very tired and felt very much alone. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar stepped outside and gazed at the view of unfamiliar constellations that the sky south of the equator offered her. The air was balmy and filled with the fragrances of a myriad of exotic tropical flowers. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the courtyard of the guest house, slung between two trees, there was a hammock that invited rest and offered an unencumbered view of the sky. There, Tamar managed a few hours of sleep, temporarily freed from the bickering voices for a little while until sunrise. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On checking out, Tamar asked the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">balabusta </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of the guest house if there was a place in Eilat where a hammock could be purchased. After some hemming and hawing and a bit of negotiation, the innkeeper sold Tamar the hammock that she had slept in. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar wrapped the hammock up and tied it to her rucksack. She went from there to a small grocery and then Tamar set out </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tsufus </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">down the goat path leaving town to explore the Tropics of Birobidzhan. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is very little traffic along the goat paths that connect the coastal shtetls of the Tropics of Birobidzhan, especially after Purim. The coastal dwellers prefer to not travel. When they feel compelled to go up or down the coast, they will choose to do so by boat. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The goat paths are used to some extent by the more adventurous of tourists, in season. Most outside visitors, however, rarely explore much past the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">stadt</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of Eilat, where there are an array of facilities that cater to tourism. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The paths are also used by small children when going to, perhaps, the next closest village to visit friends or family. The older children, like their elders, prefer to go by boat. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When entering the shtetls by goat paths, one is unlikely to see any signage whatsoever. Where the towns are linked by goat paths, that part of town is thought of as the outer fringe or backside of the shtetl. This is where one might find a dump, slaughterhouse or some limited and fairly primitive industries. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The oceanside and dockage are generally perceived as the front of the shtetl. On the dock one is likely to see a colorful sign with an exotic town name such as Tangiers, Marrakesh, Caracas and Habana. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Between the tiny shtetls that dot the coastline are some of the most incredibly spectacular beaches to be found on any planet. The sand colors on these beaches vary from pink to peach to lavender. Tropical foliage borders the sands. The warm waters are frequented by large schools of colorful fish. Birds with a cacophony of sounds and colors perch in the trees and fly above in large flocks. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The beaches remain beautiful because of their remoteness. The beaches are only accessible </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tsufus, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and most people will not walk for miles to visit even the most spectacular beach. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar mostly camped on these beaches that are between the outlying shtetls. She would string her hammock between trees or sleep directly on the soft sand dunes, staying in one place for two or three nights. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Camping provided some relief from the sounds of arguing that haunted Tamar's nights. She began to believe that the struggle was taking place within her womb. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar rarely saw another person between the shtetls and she had the beaches to herself. She would swim naked and sun herself on the soft sand. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, after a while, she would walk to the next shtetl, where she would seek out necessities. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the whole, households in the Tropics of Birobidzhan grow most of their own vegetables, raise a few animals for meat, bake their own bread, and either do their own fishing or buy fish directly from the fishermen. In most shtetls, there is a small shop that offers a very limited array of consumer goods and a few groceries.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Market days on </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mantik aun danershtag </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">provides more choices than the tiny stores. Tamar preferred to arrive at a shtetl on a Monday or a Thursday. On these days fresh vegetables are available and often baked goods. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar rarely stayed overnight in any of the shtetls, although there were the occasional exception. There are few accommodations to speak of. Some of the town folk have an extra room that they will offer to rent to the rare traveler passing through. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Tamar entered a shtetl, she was often greeted by one of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">balabustas</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and she was offered a home-cooked meal and perhaps a place to spend the night. Inevitably, there was a son, brother or grandson in need of a wife and the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">balabusta</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> set right into matchmaking. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar was not looking for a husband. Some of the young men of the shtetls were pleasant enough perhaps for a dalliance but none were the sort that she could imagine forming a long-term association with, much less a marriage. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even after Tamar's abdomen began to swell and her pregnancy was no longer easily disguised, the matchmaking efforts did not abate much until she became so large that her gait turned into a wobble. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the early evening, on the docks of these coastal shtetls, the fishermen without wives and children to go home to would gather to feed and entertain themselves. They would cook fish heads and other less marketable parts from the day's catch along with potatoes and peppers into a thick, seasoned, savory stew that they call jambalaya. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The fishermen all served themselves from their communal pot and drank schnapps profusely late into the night under the equatorial stars.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The musicians among the fishermen would play their accordions, harmonicas and Jews Harps. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Tamar felt a desire for social interactions, the docks among the fishermen is where she felt the most comfortable. She would open her violin case and join in with the amateur klezmorim and was always welcomed and also well fed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar's pregnancy was quite advanced by the time autumn approached. Getting around on her own, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tsufus, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">became significantly more difficult and the increased number of tourists entering the region made the Tropics of Birobidzhan less satisfying to her than before. Tamar determined that it was time for a change. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar found her way back to Eilat and traveled on the ferry to New New York. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar disembarked the ferry in Seaside Mea Shearim. From the distance, she watched Baruch and Shmuli descend the steps of the yeshiva where they were still students. She saw them walking towards their apartment, gesticulating and arguing. Tamar smiled as she watched them walking away, unaware of her presence. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar boarded a streetcar by the docks and rode it to <i>Tsenter Shtot</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. She had enough time to go to her bank and make a withdrawal before heading to the train station. She got herself a sleeper car on the train to First Landing and arrived at her family home relatively rested early the next morning, a very rare congruity of efficiency for Planet Birobidzhan.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_nzpBlYRpZER2SAupYio8GPOe_5eZZs2drDsrqxQvqUPcTDSB2rZI6Bo7n3KYCCsNkSE29NrZE2ylJhv1padpGSEt77Wt-mUA_LuslGNpdjX4Pg95dRL7qHFFlxz2gwQHAV7sxlvISSZqkgS_1WDQmK8oN0CLydhUwaPnf8L4hs82ecV3YHpUh62ZA/s680/Andromeda_galaxy_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="680" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_nzpBlYRpZER2SAupYio8GPOe_5eZZs2drDsrqxQvqUPcTDSB2rZI6Bo7n3KYCCsNkSE29NrZE2ylJhv1padpGSEt77Wt-mUA_LuslGNpdjX4Pg95dRL7qHFFlxz2gwQHAV7sxlvISSZqkgS_1WDQmK8oN0CLydhUwaPnf8L4hs82ecV3YHpUh62ZA/s320/Andromeda_galaxy_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0363bea8-7fff-79bc-eeed-927b98edff74" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-c3d975a9-7fff-c15b-1ade-d66de530f23b" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0363bea8-7fff-79bc-eeed-927b98edff74" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0363bea8-7fff-79bc-eeed-927b98edff74" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">פּלאַנעט</span> <span style="font-size: large;">ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-11821e99-7fff-400a-d680-7348c7fe7d8f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-11821e99-7fff-400a-d680-7348c7fe7d8f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-28639282977562237732023-01-06T22:39:00.013-08:002023-01-25T00:30:45.540-08:00The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAY4Tr8v3qkYHhKMNvSmWrFQeXBCDUViIN-nJzgWMCxEqRrtv74PUYLDwODnATMP3g2f5lmG2sIkT73PzvKKz4j5a-Gv750-l9_6gcwqJRIRbDV-OiVm2vQ-CdRmKPnkVQvF7ly4so7daseA1zPBCx1z05BiMG-qy7BugNySqJv00_ADBwUypKSIVVkg/s684/WR-Star.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAY4Tr8v3qkYHhKMNvSmWrFQeXBCDUViIN-nJzgWMCxEqRrtv74PUYLDwODnATMP3g2f5lmG2sIkT73PzvKKz4j5a-Gv750-l9_6gcwqJRIRbDV-OiVm2vQ-CdRmKPnkVQvF7ly4so7daseA1zPBCx1z05BiMG-qy7BugNySqJv00_ADBwUypKSIVVkg/s320/WR-Star.jpg" width="299" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>by Zvi Baranoff </p><p>The streets of every neighborhood of New New York were raucous with the celebration of Purim throughout the night. The sounds of the drunken revelers were everywhere. The celebratory noise rippled through Tamar's window above the bakery until nearly dawn. </p><p>Tamar was content to be sober, by herself, and in her apartment. Tamar stayed at home, reading, drinking herbal tea, playing her fiddle, and resting. She went to bed early. </p><p>The whole next day the city seemed to be suffering from a collective hangover. The remains of the festivities littered the streets. Bits of clothing and gauze were everywhere. </p><p>Overnight, some alleyways had been turned into temporary improvised urinals. The smell of piss lingered. Some people fell asleep in doorways or on the sidewalk. A few were still sleeping in these odd places long into the day. </p><p>Businesses around the city opened late the day after the Purim festivities, or not at all. The bakery below Tamar's apartment opened late and closed early. </p><p>Tamar was grateful for the pleasant fragrance of breads and cakes baking. She had become accustomed to those smells and would certainly miss that when she moved. She was very glad for the platter of croissants that the baker's apprentice delivered to her that morning.</p><p>The following morning, Tamar rose very early. She packed her rucksack and took the time to tidy the apartment before leaving it for good. When the bakery opened its door, Tamar returned the apartment key to Miriam. The two women exchanged hugs. Tamar left with a few fresh baked rolls added to her rucksack and walked towards the docks. </p><p>Tamar's strolling was casual and pleasant. Tamar felt something akin to nostalgia as she walked past the various corners where she had played her violin, the Herbal Apothecary where she worked, the cafes that she had frequented and the yeshiva where Baruch and Shmuli studied. </p><p>Tamar arrived at the ferry station with time to spare. Tamar bought her ticket for the boat trip to Eilat and then ordered tea from the cafe. She sat at an outdoor table on the sidewalk adjacent to the docks. The tea was served shtetl style, in a glass with a sugar cube on the side. </p><p>The travel time by boat from New New York to Eilat is around three hours, depending on the weather and sea conditions. The sea is calm most of the time, making it generally a very pleasant trip. </p><p>New New York is semi tropical but as one heads south on the ferry into the true tropics, the transition becomes evident. Temperatures rise. The texture of the air changes. Colors become more vibrant. Along the way, traveling on the ferry, the warmth of New New York is replaced by the balminess of the Tropics. </p><p>The Tropics of Birobidzhan are sparsely populated. The Tropics consist of the small stadt - actually not much bigger than a shtetl - of Eilat and a smattering of very small and semi isolated coastal shtetls where Yidden scratch out a leben by fishing. One can travel between the various shtetls on a network of goat paths or by small boat. </p><p>There are no large fishing fleets to be found. There is little industry or commerce to speak of. The region has a small agricultural sector that specializes in growing etrogim, the citrus fruit that is used for Sukkos. Other than that, there are very few commercial farming endeavors. Most food is raised in family gardens. There is no mining and no manufacturing to speak of. </p><p>Eilat and its vicinity have some tourist draw. There are hotels and restaurants that cater primarily to visitors. Visitors come to the Tropics mainly in the winter. After Purim, travel to Eilat falls off. The ferry was not crowded at all and that was certainly the way Tamar preferred it. </p><p>Tamar stayed on the upper deck of the ferry for most of the trip. She had a fair degree of privacy and an incredible view. The sea was nearly without waves. The water was a beautiful aqua color. </p><p>A breeze blew through Tamar's unraveled hair. The sun was shining on her shoulders when she removed her shaw and on her legs when she adjusted the folds of her skirt and stretched out. Tamar soaked it all in.</p><p>The Tropics of Birobidzhan have far more Sephardic and Mizrahi influence than the rest of Planet Birobidzhan. This first becomes evident to visitors when eating in the local restaurants of Eilat. The food served there is spicier than what is found elsewhere on Planet Birobidzhan. There are also, one might note, some variants in the Sephardic approach to Kashrut laws and customs, particularly concerning Pesach. </p><p>Throughout the Tropics the mezuzah on the outer doors of most buildings is perpendicular rather than at an angle, which is the planetary norm. Most buildings in the Tropics, in addition to a mezuzah, display a hamsa to ward off evil. Additionally, the ceilings of porches are usually painted blue as this is believed to help protect a home from evil spirits. </p><p>There is a local accent in the Tropics of Birobidzhan with some unique pronunciation. In some cases, the accent is placed on a different syllable. In the Tropics, there is a tendency to sometimes use a "t" sound to replace the "s" or "sh" that is more common on the rest of Planet Birobidzhan. On the whole, however, the shprakh spoken there is not incredibly different from the shprakh of the rest of the planet. </p><p>There are quite a few Spanish and Arabic words that spice up the Yiddish spoken in the Tropics of Birobidzhan. At times, the use of one of these words denotes a very different meaning from the more common Yiddish words with the same definition. </p><p>If one is speaking about getting something done "tomorrow" one can say either morgan or mañana. If one is told morgan in the Tropics, then the speaker may actually mean tomorrow. If, however, one is told mañana it means that maybe tomorrow or the next day or maybe next week or perhaps not at all. The Tropics of Birobidzhan are called the Land of Mañana for good reason.</p><p>The ferry arrived in Eilat in the early afternoon. The city seemed sleepy, as if just waking from a nap. </p><p>Most businesses in the Tropics close mid day for an extended lunch and rest in the shade. The local term for this extended afternoon break is siesta. This derives from the Spanish word meaning a nap. Indeed, the arrival of the ferry from New New York coincides with the conclusion of the siesta. </p><p>The first thing Tamar did upon arrival was to rent a cozy room at a guest house. She left her rucksack and violin in her room and headed out to see Eilat unencumbered.</p><p>Tamar walked about, looking at the colorfully painted homes and the lush gardens accented with splendid tropical flowers. She ate a seafood meal in a quiet little restaurant. The dining room had windows that opened to the street and a ceiling fan that circulated the balmy air. She watched the sun set into the ocean sitting on the dock.</p><p>Tamar was enamored by theTropics.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7cr1Id6wkUuhHxPVdje0fefkTvd_iTu-iHEOnHepvw3ZAJfp4APwQC5I1k6eFnzeozj90Fm0J8MgwujQ2vgjbWKdgxWWF9h02tk_yaImllp1t1bUe3Mxoa2RCH8s7loSNAhmmO9ICIglgoZweT91FFpifHmxP5u3IR6P2tveBtdxDDuDYMVO8TexpAg/s780/220802110622-james-webb-cartwheel-galaxy-0802-crop-exlarge-169.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="780" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7cr1Id6wkUuhHxPVdje0fefkTvd_iTu-iHEOnHepvw3ZAJfp4APwQC5I1k6eFnzeozj90Fm0J8MgwujQ2vgjbWKdgxWWF9h02tk_yaImllp1t1bUe3Mxoa2RCH8s7loSNAhmmO9ICIglgoZweT91FFpifHmxP5u3IR6P2tveBtdxDDuDYMVO8TexpAg/s320/220802110622-james-webb-cartwheel-galaxy-0802-crop-exlarge-169.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-c3d975a9-7fff-c15b-1ade-d66de530f23b" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">פּלאַנעט</span> <span style="font-size: large;">ביראָבידזשאַן</span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-c908b8ee-7fff-e952-4765-563b2382c165" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-4690577207484239052023-01-05T00:01:00.016-08:002023-01-25T00:31:07.907-08:00Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZaa_rZk1N428LlDMtI7nv-oX921nJGcCDBdzeaGVmUQXXlcSY8FizeEphAoQh75wGpLNlCl104EfmJ3rPtmhm8zVOe4d3Wf7uxXRvN98bj7VfuX2xTokpbwL1VAnbjqDTLM4UVx8HMqfPuCwfYTpYVjxdMTWFoLjEHjsQuDh4my4hHmZzk9MWOp-NA/s698/49322b9b-01c9-43b6-a87e-e4d6e06ae6c7-fkbnaecxkaapjfl.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="698" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZaa_rZk1N428LlDMtI7nv-oX921nJGcCDBdzeaGVmUQXXlcSY8FizeEphAoQh75wGpLNlCl104EfmJ3rPtmhm8zVOe4d3Wf7uxXRvN98bj7VfuX2xTokpbwL1VAnbjqDTLM4UVx8HMqfPuCwfYTpYVjxdMTWFoLjEHjsQuDh4my4hHmZzk9MWOp-NA/s320/49322b9b-01c9-43b6-a87e-e4d6e06ae6c7-fkbnaecxkaapjfl.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>by Zvi Baranoff </p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-2a320d7a-7fff-cea6-a114-ef146971d2f9" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tea at Tamar's every </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mantik</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> after </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shacharis </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">became ritualistic for Baruch and Shmuli. The tea time often stretched into lunch. Sometimes the yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> would daven </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mincha aun</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">maariv</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at the apartment above the bakery. </span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-2a320d7a-7fff-cea6-a114-ef146971d2f9" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar introduced them to a variety of herbal teas that she brought home from the Herbal Apothecary as well as serving the more traditional tea that they were used to.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> were always a bit hungry and a few cookies or a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shtikel</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of babka were well deserved calories and nutrients. In Tamar's apartment, there were always fresh pastries, provided by the landlord from the bakery below. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dates that Tamar served were truly wonderful, a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mechayeh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Sometimes, instead of dates, Tamar offered majoun, made from dates, nuts and hashish. Tamar's teas were an exotic experience. On special occasions there was schnapps. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once in a while Tamar would tell her friends that she had received movie tickets from the club or dropped into her violin case while she was busking. On those occasions, the three friends would get together in the evening and walk to the nearby Bijou Theater. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the movie theater, Tamar insisted on sitting between the two yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. In the darkened theater, Tamar would kick her shoes off and brush a stockinged foot casually against one or the other of her friends. Tamar would lean her shoulders against each of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> while passing the tub of popcorn. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes, in that darkened movie theater, Tamar grabbed one of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by the knee when something dramatic happened on the screen or slid her palm down an inner thigh if the film was suspenseful. They each assumed themselves to be the only recipient of this sort of special attention. Both were too polite to mention such to the other. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Purim, of course, is on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar. On Planet Birobidzhan it is celebrated with a broad abandonment of social norms. This is all the more so in New New York, partially due to the subtropical latitude and balmy weather. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even before the beginning of Adar, a degree of excitement and anticipation can be felt throughout the city. Majoun is sold in every grocery and neighborhood store. Masks and materials for costumes are everywhere. The annual Purim party in the streets of New New York is the biggest party of the year, on the entire planet. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The rabbinic authorities of New New York issue their annual admonishments concerning the holiday, discouraging public nudity and debauchery. The heads of each of the yeshivas also offer strict warnings to all of their students. The admonishments and warnings have no effect on how Purim is celebrated. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar's anticipation of the celebration was amplified by her various undisclosed plans. Every aspect involved precise timing. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar intended to leave New New York immediately after the holiday. She had told no one of of this beforehand. Shortly after the First of Adar, Tamar packed up her large collection of instruments, except for her violin, and all of her clothes that didn't fit in her rucksack. She shipped her things to her family home, via Moshe & Mendel's Jew Harp, Tsatske aun Muzik Krom, from their store in New New York to their store in First Landing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Wednesday before Purim, Tamar woke early. She fidgeted around the apartment for a while, with an air of anticipation. She was looking forward to meeting with Baruch and Shmuli on the street near where they eat lunch. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Right before leaving her apartment, Tamar wiggled the mezuzah that hung by her bedroom door, causing the top nail to fall out so that it was hanging loosely, upside-down by the bottom nail. She smiled to herself. She skipped across her living room and headed down the stairs. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdeBkwPLawHaWR6yY9UcvXSyJfTP_Td8fC2ffZ9f41qUW3dDL-MYyo7QJQDN9fzb04AgoyGlQK5M1przjprKjKmDUOkgwFiwsoLn-u_dxOOz5OwB0D-7rxNhkL5cTude3PzSA0_v7Lg3q4_5c8Hp7pgGP2KNDjS9wHZrvurTzlOAEEYZR05IN0hM7cmA/s258/images%20(3).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="195" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdeBkwPLawHaWR6yY9UcvXSyJfTP_Td8fC2ffZ9f41qUW3dDL-MYyo7QJQDN9fzb04AgoyGlQK5M1przjprKjKmDUOkgwFiwsoLn-u_dxOOz5OwB0D-7rxNhkL5cTude3PzSA0_v7Lg3q4_5c8Hp7pgGP2KNDjS9wHZrvurTzlOAEEYZR05IN0hM7cmA/s1600/images%20(3).jpeg" width="195" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar set up on her regular </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mitvokh </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">corner to play her violin. She arrived earlier than usual. She played with, perhaps, more spirit and more passionately than usual. The crowd of listeners was larger than normal and her violin case filled with banknotes. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar kept looking off to her left, where Baruch and Shmuli always come from. She kept visualizing their presence on the street as if wishing it to be so would bring them sooner. When the yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> approached, Tamar stopped playing mid song and spoke to them breathlessly. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I was so hoping that you would come today," she said as if there was anything unusual about them walking down that street after </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mitvokh </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lunch at their usual delicatessen. "I have a problem. I need your help," Tamar said emphatically as she packed up her violin. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> were concerned and assured Tamar that they would help her in any way they could. They asked her what was bothering her.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar took a deep breath and spoke directly to the two young men, looking from one face to another, deeply into their eyes. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">"A mezuzah in my apartment has fallen halfway off. It is hanging upside down by the bottom nail. It needs to be reattached. I want to be sure that it is hung correctly." Tamar sighed. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Can you help me? Please?" Tamar smiled wanly at her two friends. What else could they do but follow Tamar back to the apartment above the bakery to lend their assistance and expertise. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Along the way, Baruch and Shmuli bickered over the laws and customs concerning the proper care and display of a mezuzah. There is the matter of the exact angle and if a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">berakhah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">needs to be said and what to do if the scroll has been damaged. They presented positions and counterpoints, quoting holy books, arguing the whole way there. Tamar walked ahead of them, smiling in anticipation of her unfolding plan.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, the yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, once they were in the apartment, made short work of the repairs. Tamar thanked them profusely and suggested a small glass of whiskey to drink </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">l'chaim </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and in honor of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mitzvah </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">performed. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The young men were really not used to drinking whiskey. They were much more accustomed to the less potent schnapps, but under the circumstances they could not refuse. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The three friends, said a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">berakhah,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> drank </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">l'chaim </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">l'chaim once more. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar suggested that they have tea and perhaps a little something to eat. "After all," she said, "it is still early in the day." Of course, Baruch and Shmuli acquiesced. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar served majoun and an herbal tea concoction and continued to refill their whiskey glasses. Time became irrelevant as the various substances took effect. When the clock showed that it was time to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">daven mincha aun</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">maariv, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the young men could barely stand as they mumbled their way through the prayers. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The whiskey had Baruch and Shmuli sloshed. The hashish in the majoun distorted their sense of time. The herbal concoctions that Tamar served kept them awake and increased their strength and stamina in ways that they had never anticipated. As the night unfolded, Baruch and Shmuli became detached from the world that they knew. Everything seemed as if to be a dream. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar asked the yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> if they would like to see her Purim costume. She said that she wanted their opinions as to the propriety of the costume that she had chosen. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">While Baruch and Shmuli sat on the living room sofa in a quite unfamiliar haze, Tamar turned down the electric lights and lit an aromatic candle, placing it on a shelf. Tamar then went into her bedroom to change. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Tamar returned, she was wearing little besides gauze. Soon after that, she was wearing even less. Tamar knew that she was ovulating. The moment to fulfill that specific destiny was upon her. The two yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sat on the sofa, transfixed. They were both beyond rational thought. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Baruch and Shmuli descended the apartment stairs and stumbled into the streets of Seaside Mea Shearim, morning was already approaching. The yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">choose to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">daven shacharis</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in the privacy of their apartment. They skipped their regular Thursday </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">minyan </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Toyre </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">reading. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar wrapped herself in a comfortable bathrobe. She was absolutely sure that she was pregnant with twins. She was quite confident that both Baruch and Shmuli were very fertile and that their seeds were well placed. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar brewed herself a cup of soothing herbal tea and sipped it contentedly while sitting on the sofa surrounded by fluffy pillows. Tamar stroked her abdomen and smiled. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaQD8S1Is7dAKVXeiaVPUG0NAJu1yy4mC1VXO9hayPrzC_VPVLNAvllJpz9IdrDE_Ig3z4EyQ8_ZYmSx6WuehVJKJCHsJqynL3szMhxjp0KJI_JoM7AX7MipfsSztdrotnvqNahlzXmVp49A-3IyqqRMzI9NLU-RaJB7x1PgeKaCoJqvtnWSQzeNQElg/s698/caf029de-3bbd-4dd4-a954-007e9b6b83f1-hubble-wfc3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="698" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaQD8S1Is7dAKVXeiaVPUG0NAJu1yy4mC1VXO9hayPrzC_VPVLNAvllJpz9IdrDE_Ig3z4EyQ8_ZYmSx6WuehVJKJCHsJqynL3szMhxjp0KJI_JoM7AX7MipfsSztdrotnvqNahlzXmVp49A-3IyqqRMzI9NLU-RaJB7x1PgeKaCoJqvtnWSQzeNQElg/s320/caf029de-3bbd-4dd4-a954-007e9b6b83f1-hubble-wfc3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-c3d975a9-7fff-c15b-1ade-d66de530f23b" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">פּלאַנעט</span> <span style="font-size: large;">ביראָבידזשאַן</span></div></span><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-adbda8ed-7fff-5296-78ae-f9a191703616" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-adbda8ed-7fff-5296-78ae-f9a191703616" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-11821e99-7fff-400a-d680-7348c7fe7d8f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-6913305976092638392023-01-04T22:18:00.016-08:002023-01-25T00:31:29.998-08:00The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_UF2CJ603bs9L1P4OJVdll3ezadLrSw_3Q4WqaYAZ1xZ2IGzFKmsZPVRp1DNrI-k8bsO2xC_ShQWmVA7Ap7DZKBrk8zgBMUhXnNb_om9nlQS9Ji0kMFLmcnEakIXH4yRg2oLPb-5fJ_87E64gpCqOuhwEcdMKcbxP0xNUpBcODaelcT3M7IvqLcAPTA/s258/images%20(3).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="195" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_UF2CJ603bs9L1P4OJVdll3ezadLrSw_3Q4WqaYAZ1xZ2IGzFKmsZPVRp1DNrI-k8bsO2xC_ShQWmVA7Ap7DZKBrk8zgBMUhXnNb_om9nlQS9Ji0kMFLmcnEakIXH4yRg2oLPb-5fJ_87E64gpCqOuhwEcdMKcbxP0xNUpBcODaelcT3M7IvqLcAPTA/s1600/images%20(3).jpeg" width="195" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>by Zvi Baranoff </p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seemed that everywhere that Baruch and Shmuli went, there was the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">meydl mit a fidele</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar would be on the corner near their apartment, playing her fiddle, when the young scholars walked home from the yeshiva. An open instrument case would be at her feet with a handful of coins and a few crumpled shekel notes. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mantik aun danershtag</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Baruch and Shmuli would </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">daven shacharis </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with a small neighborhood </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">minyan</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and help with the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">toyre </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">portion reading. When they left the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">minyan </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on their way back to the yeshiva, the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">meydl mit a fidele</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> would be on the sidewalk as they walked by. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mitvokh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Baruch and Shmuli would splurge on lunch at a delicatessen near the yeshiva. When they finished their meal, they inevitably found Tamar busking shortly after leaving the restaurant. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The weather was nearly always perfect in New New York for playing music outside. The streets of Seaside Mea Shearim provide some of the best acoustic possibilities in the city. Tamar would close her eyes while playing. She played for no one but herself until Baruch and Shmuli arrived. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar always knew when Baruch and Shmuli were nearby. She could hear them arguing from a block away. As they approached her, the bickering would taper off and then cease. At that moment, Tamar would open her eyes and increase the crescendo of her fiddling. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Baruch and Shmuli, like most </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yeshiva bochers, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">had little money. They would, however, stop and listen to the otherworldly melodies that Tamar conjured with her violin. The young men would always drop a few </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">peniz oder a nikal </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in her violin case. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar always smiled demurely at the young men, respectfully avoiding direct eye contact. She would watch them out of the corner of her eye as they would try not to stare at her. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yeshiva bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> would stand about awkwardly, fidgeting and mostly avoiding the sin of looking directly at the beautiful young woman with the fiddle that played Heavenly music. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar was always dressed in a most appropriate manner. Her long sleeves covered her arms to her wrists. Tamar always wore a skirt that reached down to her shoes. Tamar's attire was exactly what is worn in the most conservative of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shtetls</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on Planet Birobidzhan. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes, when Baruch and Shmuli were nearby, Tamar's skirt would shift enough to expose an ankle. Occasionally, her sleeves would flutter when she vigorously stroked the fiddle with the bow and her bare arms would be momentarily visable. The young men would blush. Tamar would smile, demurely. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">For weeks, neither Baruch nor Shmuli uttered more than a few cautious words directly to Tamar. Yet, most assuredly, as time went on, both of these young men fell in love with Tamar. They began to look forward to encounters with the pretty musician. They were no longer surprised at the "chance" meetings with Tamar. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is true that everyone has to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">macht a leben. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yet, Tamar never really needed to play her fiddle on the streets of New New York. Even after paying six months of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dire Gelt</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for her apartment, Tamar had enough money left over from her time with the klezmorim to live comfortably without income. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar also had a steady royalties stream from the album she recorded in New Jerusalem. That money just sat in her bank account untouched. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar had a weekly gig at one of the local clubs. She earned from that a share of the door. She did this weekly performance mostly for practice. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar spent the money she earned from the club on whims and impulses. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar drank coffee in cafes. She visited museums, attended theater performances and even took the occasional snorkeling trips. Tamar bought herself small luxuries, when she was so inclined. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar was only busking on those Seaside Mea Shearim streets at times when she could expect Baruch and Shmuli to be walking by. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar planned her Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays around staging those seemingly spontaneous short encounters. She sometimes arrived at the precise spot only minutes ahead of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yeshiva bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Tamar would pack her violin up and go home whenever Baruch and Shmuli left her and were beyond hearing range. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar began spending every Tuesday at the Herbal Apothecary. She helped the proprietor by filling orders, talking to customers and straightening up in exchange for a comprehensive education in folk medicine and herbal therapy. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the Herbal Apothecary, Tamar learned how women can govern their cycles, taking control of the terms and timing of pregnancy. She learned that the likelihood of pregnancy occurring during intercouse varies widely. There are days when a resulting pregnancy is quite unlikely and a time when a pregnancy is nearly guaranteed. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar became familiar with the effects of various herbs and the combination of various herbs. She discovered that there are herbs that can shield a woman from an unwanted pregnancy and others that will increase the possibility of impregnation. She also learned that there are a wide variety of herbal mixtures </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">that increase or decrease male potency, and some that promote male vigor. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar absorbed an encyclopedic knowledge of herbal history, lore and science. This was incredibly useful when she counseled customers in the Apothecary. Most of the clients were the young wives of yeshiva students and rabbis. They, nearly unanimously, were interested in limiting the number of children that they would bear. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the weeks passed, so did some of the yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers'</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> awkward tendencies. Before long, the semblance of actual conversations began to take place such as commenting on the weather or asking about Tamar's health and her family. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, one Monday, Tamar took the bold step of inviting Baruch and Shmuli to her apartment for a cup of tea and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kikhlekh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQf5g-7AL034YMzG0qF-a8duxpCkAaN_iZhTD0fIKVFTx842A_ISTldNVf2ArJMKsODxUPm-LNgcDmqR1QN_cMUVtbh50u2VkEXNFhA53zWYv1f__J-XzNLUewH0-5xgFz7AQ3hpX22TY-y3io9wpwSCk_FxHFGTUn9ScKLJh65gF17O4Q9BPWnNBeLA/s4160/20230103_152145.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQf5g-7AL034YMzG0qF-a8duxpCkAaN_iZhTD0fIKVFTx842A_ISTldNVf2ArJMKsODxUPm-LNgcDmqR1QN_cMUVtbh50u2VkEXNFhA53zWYv1f__J-XzNLUewH0-5xgFz7AQ3hpX22TY-y3io9wpwSCk_FxHFGTUn9ScKLJh65gF17O4Q9BPWnNBeLA/s320/20230103_152145.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> expressed some reluctance, at first. They didn't want to be a burden on a poor street musician. They assumed that she was at least as impoverished as they were. Tamar gave them no reasons to draw other conclusions. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar assured them that the baked goods were a side benefit of living above the bakery. She explained that the tea was obtained without cost from the Herbal Apothecary. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this case, no harm, assuredly, could come from a cup of tea and a cookie or two, determined the yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. They stayed with Tamar until she finished her impromptu street performance. The young men walked with her back to her apartment above the bakery. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar unlocked the door adjacent to the bakery. She walked up the steps and Baruch and Shmuli followed her up the stairs and into her apartment. There, the yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> stood about, quite unsure of themselves. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar settled her guests at a table on the balcony overlooking the street. She went into her kitchen to prepare the tea. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar could hear Baruch and Shmuli begin to argue over that morning's </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">toyre</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> portion. That habitual bickering assured her that the yeshiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bochers</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> were beginning to feel at ease. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The theological argument had become quite animated by the time that Tamar rolled the samovar onto the balcony. She served the tea shtetl style, with sugar cubes, a platter of cookies from the bakery below and a bowl of dates. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the things that Tamar particularly enjoyed about living in New New York is that dates are so readily available. She reminded Baruch and Shmuli that the Hebrew word for dates is </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tamar,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> her namesake. "The Hebrew </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tamar</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> certainly sounds more </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">romantic </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">than the Yiddish </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">da-tes, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">don't</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you think?" Tamar said with a wink.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2K_ljMW4h-WmYAajnCgsJFo78dDD57u4DE4yONUxkgJI21SW-dZhLLb5buEfi1PwegU78J88hNESqDo_i1a59HrvnmCof1qfoVSqG697zFEv52ewUH_0lsuTbIE3MPf_Z9xrGYh68W97YzLI-ZD433pRXlllw_lBluL90-nrTixdaGIkgP0bQPNpcOA/s1044/a495e52f-369d-4e7c-b71e-e8cb39e79d14-fjyasdyxeaiwlvm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="697" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2K_ljMW4h-WmYAajnCgsJFo78dDD57u4DE4yONUxkgJI21SW-dZhLLb5buEfi1PwegU78J88hNESqDo_i1a59HrvnmCof1qfoVSqG697zFEv52ewUH_0lsuTbIE3MPf_Z9xrGYh68W97YzLI-ZD433pRXlllw_lBluL90-nrTixdaGIkgP0bQPNpcOA/s320/a495e52f-369d-4e7c-b71e-e8cb39e79d14-fjyasdyxeaiwlvm.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-c3d975a9-7fff-c15b-1ade-d66de530f23b" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">פּלאַנעט</span> <span style="font-size: large;">ביראָבידזשאַן</span></div></span><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-16a11d7b-7fff-c0a3-8285-4da5bfb94fd3" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-16a11d7b-7fff-c0a3-8285-4da5bfb94fd3" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-3ddd04ac-7fff-c0dc-796f-c541e9b65d50" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-11821e99-7fff-400a-d680-7348c7fe7d8f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-21077892497314954452023-01-01T00:55:00.021-08:002023-01-25T00:31:51.467-08:00On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhISscJuBH25qOHlA2PXr-Am150QGWo25uz83-HpHt1tOvg1eh8o5dgfCRyGYMt9e56rwdolV_j2qtP68CCxMPpRrLwh55kRnX6H8xJZadVuqrXjbwep2bFmoFXmmfwKf9UpjVojUTX4n1lSZmCDB8vgW07vx01mQ__OeK43i4NYRq7rUFnPEXgO2TjA/s650/weLhYYwioYjfgbgzmcLTEP-650-80.jpg.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="650" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhISscJuBH25qOHlA2PXr-Am150QGWo25uz83-HpHt1tOvg1eh8o5dgfCRyGYMt9e56rwdolV_j2qtP68CCxMPpRrLwh55kRnX6H8xJZadVuqrXjbwep2bFmoFXmmfwKf9UpjVojUTX4n1lSZmCDB8vgW07vx01mQ__OeK43i4NYRq7rUFnPEXgO2TjA/s320/weLhYYwioYjfgbgzmcLTEP-650-80.jpg.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Zvi Baranoff</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Planet Birobidzhan is a sparsely populated world. Most of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mentshn</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> live in small settlements and shtetls. Generally speaking, life on Planet Birobidzhan is slow paced. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The planet's largest city, New New York, on the other hand, is a crowded bustling metropolis. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New New York is truly the business, cultural, educational and industrial center of Planet Birobidzhan. The geologists and architectural experts amongst the Founders chose the location because of the fine natural harbor. The rabbis designated New New York as the primary city for building the grand yeshivas. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Situated in a near-tropical zone, there is a casual ambiance and a laissez-faire attitude there. One might be rightfully surprised by the degree of diversity from a city established to such a large degree by rabbis as a center for religious studies. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New New York is sometimes called the City that Never Sleeps. This is particularly true for the </span><i style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tsenter Shtot</i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. That urban core includes the Theater District. Here one finds the large entertainment venues as well as many smaller clubs, lots of restaurants, hotels, several casinos, the higher class brothels and a slew of bars. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The klezmer troupe had a two week engagement booked in one of the </span><i style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tsenter Shtot's</i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> finest theaters. There were two performances scheduled for every day except, of course, Shabbos. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The klezmorim were settled into their own wing of a large hotel. It was a welcome reprieve for the troupe to stay in one place, sleep in wide beds, bathe whenever they wanted and to let someone else do the cooking. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even with the heavy performance schedule, the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chaverim </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">had time to relax and play tourist in New New York. The city is made up of many neighborhoods and districts with distinct characteristics beyond the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stadt Zenter</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that are well worth visiting. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar, however, did not play at being a tourist. The morning of her first full day in the city, Tamar went directly where the Mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan had led her. She headed to Seaside Mea Shearim. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seaside Mea Shearim is the oldest district of New New York. The yeshivas were built here. Much of the district is made up of apartments that serve as bachelor student housing. There is a neighborhood of mostly married students with young growing families. The district also has a variety of businesses that cater to the students. The families that run these businesses often live in apartments above or adjacent to their shops. Of course, the faculty of each of the yeshivas, and their families, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">also live in Seaside Mea Shearim. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The coastline is made up of dockage primarily used by commercial fishermen. Pleasure boats offering snorkeling trips also use these docks as well as a ferry service that offers transportation between New New York and Eilat four days a week. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The area closest to the boats are scattered with low cost bars and other sorts of distractions that appeal to fishermen, and an occasional yeshiva student. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, in this way, the holy, the profane and the mundane coincide somewhat comfortably in Seaside Mea Shearim.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar rode the streetcar from </span><i style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tsenter Shtot</i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to its terminal by the docks of Seaside Mea Shearim. From there, she walked past the large yeshiva that stands overlooking the harbor. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Tamar approached the school, the rabbinic students that she had seen in her mushroom induced vision descended the steps. She walked behind those two, casually observing and nonchalantly eavesdropping. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The students were immersed in a debate of halachic fine points.Their hands gesticulated and payos swayed as they walked and argued from the yeshiva to their apartment. The two were </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chavrusa </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- studying partners - and roommates. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar followed them unnoticed. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar learned a lot about these two young men in a very short time. She knew that their names were Baruch and Shmuli. She knew that they were each highly intelligent. She learned their favorite foods, class schedules and where they lived. Tamar had a pretty good idea where they would be every </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mantik aun danershtag </span><span id="docs-internal-guid-38a102aa-7fff-be99-14ee-10d664d815a1" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and where they ate lunch every </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mitvakh. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most importantly, she quickly became assured that these two young men were somehow linked to her destiny. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Tamar continued strolling along the streets of Seaside Mea Shearim all the sights were familiar. The buildings, the trees, the street vendors, the cobblestones, the storefronts and more had been imprinted in her memories by her interactions with the Mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan. Every footstep was preordained. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar came to the bakery with the wide window display and the comforting aroma of fresh baked goods wafting from the open door. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Adjacent to the bakery was the door that Tamar had seen in her vision, with a handwritten sign tacked to it. "Furnished Apartment for Rent" read the notice in large block letters. The tighter script below, directed anyone interested to speak with Miriam at the bakery. So, Tamar removed the notice from the door and went into the bakery to meet Miriam. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The rental, situated above the bakery, was indeed quite comfortable and appealing. The apartment was being offered on a monthly basis. Tamar rented the place for six months. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar negotiated a twenty percent discount on the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dire Gelt </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for the apartment above the bakery. She paid cash, in full, for the six months. Tamar insisted on daily pastries and challah every Friday from the bakery as well as a weekly delivery of wood to fuel the kitchen stove. Tamar's negotiation prowess would have made her father proud. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar rode the streetcar back to </span><i style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tsenter Shtot</i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> arriving in the Theater District in time for the klezmer troupe's performance. She informed the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chaverim </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that she would not be traveling with them when their touring once again continued. This engagement at the theater in New New York would be her last with the klezmorim. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next morning Tamar hired a taxi to transport her instruments and clothing to her apartment above the bakery in Seaside Mea Shearim. She began to make herself at home, settling happily in her new neighborhood. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar commuted to the theater by streetcar for the rest of the gig, fulfilling her contractual agreement but her heart and mind were elsewhere. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDDsEdN_JuRJ4Youi_zhTQLP7JMWullI6lOeplElf5BJEvqo_Kzchr1mEP6VayepR8wk8MdtVN0E0jvFNN-PvkWIDgJIcQdQKacNhX7O2_iDAwh8sTl0AZcyFKPwkkTSBWXaJyDuCOv2e7MM545S1omlh-eX62F5WFOq3MHXfBd_uCvmjS0zq8yStLjQ/s258/images%20(3).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="195" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDDsEdN_JuRJ4Youi_zhTQLP7JMWullI6lOeplElf5BJEvqo_Kzchr1mEP6VayepR8wk8MdtVN0E0jvFNN-PvkWIDgJIcQdQKacNhX7O2_iDAwh8sTl0AZcyFKPwkkTSBWXaJyDuCOv2e7MM545S1omlh-eX62F5WFOq3MHXfBd_uCvmjS0zq8yStLjQ/s1600/images%20(3).jpeg" width="195" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-26813902-7fff-fd41-a97b-830ec7560ec9" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><br /><span id="docs-internal-guid-f554c11a-7fff-4879-cd8d-84803a693a0e" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">פּלאַנעט ביראָבידזשאַן</span></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e1f46407-7fff-cf05-1c5c-039dda73aac2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-35028aee-7fff-132b-0885-a7eb13b83bac" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-396e466a-7fff-9327-7e6d-ef2cab7e78dd" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-38bfd090-7fff-be72-5b75-d4fcf9322d30" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-3ddd04ac-7fff-c0dc-796f-c541e9b65d50" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-11821e99-7fff-400a-d680-7348c7fe7d8f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-66555564737967036362022-12-30T22:00:00.001-08:002022-12-30T22:03:55.684-08:00Riding the Bus <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-ypjoePsRzLtnFlh3RHk35_zPVp1_ng2xQIFdrCzPJMyTckYJd7pccxFQDo9Q-FiKSc9MAs124xw0Cb66Ue9p5QxCVh1GENn7xdcZxiw52CZh49UehoPcqyQ_a9m7VnIUd1U8Klo8iN5f_grlcVokrZdq6TUDvWgx_D9VTqeLM93_5bbWCGarA7jww/s640/Vintage-Bus-Nostalgia-Special_New-York-City_Untapped-Cities.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-ypjoePsRzLtnFlh3RHk35_zPVp1_ng2xQIFdrCzPJMyTckYJd7pccxFQDo9Q-FiKSc9MAs124xw0Cb66Ue9p5QxCVh1GENn7xdcZxiw52CZh49UehoPcqyQ_a9m7VnIUd1U8Klo8iN5f_grlcVokrZdq6TUDvWgx_D9VTqeLM93_5bbWCGarA7jww/s320/Vintage-Bus-Nostalgia-Special_New-York-City_Untapped-Cities.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Zvi Baranoff </span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She elbowed me sharply as she pushed her way to the front of the line and climbed into the bus. The driver tapped the fare box to remind her about dropping some coins in.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She coughed and spit and then, in a strong Yiddish accent she said to the driver, "Oy! Money you vant from me?!? You! Don't you worry about squeezing a kopek out of me! Listen, sonny! If you knew vat I haff, you would let me ride without bothering me for money!" The driver shrugged and waved her by.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The bus was crowded. There were no empty seats. On the bus sat a man, minding his own business, reading the Forverts. This woman stood right next to him and huffed and sighed and moaned. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, she leaned into the man that was reading the Yiddish newspaper and spoke loudly. "Mister," she said, "you sit reading your newspaper without a care in the world! It's a shanda! If you knew vat I haff, you would get up off your tuchus and let me have a seat. Oy!"</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The gentleman apologized and gave her his seat.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a while, this same woman started yelling for the driver to stop the bus and to let her off. The driver politely stated that he could only stop at a bus stop and not in the middle of a block.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Oy! Oy! Oy!" she yelled. "I must get off right now! If you knew vat I haff you wouldn't play games! Let me off dis bus NOW!"</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The driver stopped the bus right there in the middle of the block. As she was climbing down from the bus, I just had to ask her one question.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Hey, Lady! What is it that you have?" I asked her.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Vat do I haff?" she yelled. "Vat do I haff? Vat DO I haff?!? You vant to know vat is it that I haff? Chutzpah! That's vat I haff. I haff a LOT of chutzpah."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-9275758447056995662022-12-28T23:15:00.018-08:002023-01-25T00:32:13.285-08:00Heresy, Flimflam and Death <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYD5v_QHHHXoehHGpC-weFnftlTngoKR_C818xOYEBVb32D1TbMDeDOgBahNQfu6JkfVG-mhjOWPp2zdkA2FaUokDagDJU8NSDOB4iBljcvFvidgzPoekld6CmE1F_ekSa1YvqoYLKBBiTC558zDnCAEiXGGqfEqnZZp2U-XnYg9YmuxQ7ZnNbj62onQ/s1200/rotated-1668191624-hubble-arp248-potw2244a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYD5v_QHHHXoehHGpC-weFnftlTngoKR_C818xOYEBVb32D1TbMDeDOgBahNQfu6JkfVG-mhjOWPp2zdkA2FaUokDagDJU8NSDOB4iBljcvFvidgzPoekld6CmE1F_ekSa1YvqoYLKBBiTC558zDnCAEiXGGqfEqnZZp2U-XnYg9YmuxQ7ZnNbj62onQ/s320/rotated-1668191624-hubble-arp248-potw2244a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Zvi Baranoff </span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was valid for Der Profesor and Dovid to be cautious about the swirling rumors that they were fostering a Neo Sabbatai Zevi Cult, but probably not for them to be overly concerned. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were the occasional uttered underbreath accusations of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apikores</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. No formalized charges were ever lodged. No grievances at all were ever brought before any rabbinic court. Generally, the discretion of their inner circle and the rabbis on the payroll were able to keep chatter about heresy and apostasy to a minimum. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A bigger ongoing danger to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid, Der Profesor, the corporation and the project was that the financial house of cards that they were building would collapse before the retrofitted Hatikvah was launched. It was essential for the viability of the project that investors were to be kept utterly in the dark. The financing was a total sham. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The investors wanted to reconnect with the Home Planet. In order to access investor </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gelt,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that is what was promised to them. None of the money was spent for that purpose. Not a shekel was ever intended for such a foolhardy endeavor. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What the public was told and what actually was being done were very different. The corporation promised a dual-track strategy. One ship, investors were told, was to be sent on an exploratory mission, seeking out potential profits to be derived from nearby planets. A second ship, investors were assured, would be sent on a diplomatic and trade mission to the Home Planet, Planet Earth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Adjacent to the Hatikvah stood another ancient ship. To all outward appearances both ships were actively being retrofitted. Supplies were delivered and craftsmen could be seen coming and going to each of the ships. However, mostly empty crates were delivered to the second ship and no real work was actually done on the interior of that craft.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dedicated crew of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gonifs </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">schnorrers </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">worked diligently to make sure that the operation was funded. They were truly committed to the cause. They never let moral considerations get in the way of doing what needed to be done. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Secrets, of course, are difficult to keep. The more people involved in a conspiracy, the more difficult it is to keep it under wraps. There were hundreds of people involved in this operation. The work dragged on for a very long time. Nonetheless, the co-conspirators were a tight knit, intensely loyal group and there were very few leaks. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What probably helped the most to protect the financial reality and the true motives of the conspirators from too much scrutiny, leading to the flimflam becoming common knowledge, was Der Profesor's stellar reputation. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Der Profesor was, no doubt, one of the most widely respected people to have ever lived on any planet. Planet-wide, people knew and trusted </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Der Profesor. They trusted him unreservedly and extended that unreserved trust to his associates, as long as Der Profesor remained visibly at the helm of the operation. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Der Profesor lived a long and productive life. We bless each other with the hope of one-hundred and twenty years. Few people obtain that age but Der Profesor came close. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Der Profesor was well into eighties when Dovid first crossed his path and decades had passed since that eventful day. There were signs of his aging and slowing down but Der Profesor remained healthy, cognizant and vibrant until the very end. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Der Profesor and Dovid were playing chess in the library. As usual, Der Profesor was winning. Most uncharacteristically, Der Profesor apologized for feeling tired midgame, excused himself and went to bed.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next morning, when Der Profesor did not appear for breakfast, Dovid went to his room to check on him. Der Profesor was sitting in bed reading when Dovid let himself in. Der Profesor smiled wanly. "I have been waiting for you," he told Dovid. "I wanted to talk with you before I go."</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Going, but…" Dovid started but Der Profesor weakly lifted a hand to silence him.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"No one lives forever. I have lived a long life in this world and now I am ready for the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeder Velt</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the World to Come." This Der Profesor said and then he and Dovid were both quiet for a while before Der Profesor continued speaking. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Do you remember the day that I first met you, when you were a little </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pisher </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that could barely dress himself?"</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Of course I do," Dovid responded while blushing slightly. "You straightened out my suspenders and tied my shoes."</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Do you remember what I told you that day?" Der Profesor asked. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"You said that I should always remember that I am smarter than my suspenders and that I should be careful not to fall over my own feet," Dovid replied. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Well," said Der Profesor, "that is still true and that is the best advice that I can give you." Der Profesor closed his eyes and spoke no more. His breathing slowed and then ceased. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The funeral held for Der Profesor was one of the largest ever on Planet Birobidzhan. Der Profesor was buried in his family plot alongside his wife and near other family members including some of his children. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As far as the expedition planned for the Hatikvah was concerned, fortunately the time of launching was quickly approaching. The protective shield that Der Profesor provided for the operation was no longer in place. The grumbling of investors became much louder almost immediately after his funeral. Many were beginning to believe that they may have been swindled. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few weeks later Dovid received a message from his mother. She needed to see him immediately. He put aside what he was doing and went to the family home. For years that house had mostly been occupied by his mother alone. His father came and went. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Dovid arrived, his mother was in the kitchen. On the sofa, there was a body covered with a sheet. Dovid's mother barely looked away from the dishes that she was washing when she spoke. "I need your help arranging a funeral," she told him and she tilted her chin towards the sofa.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At once Dovid grasped that his father had passed away. He gave his mother a hug. "Of course, Momma, I can help with that," Dovid told her. "Should I stay here while we </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sit</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shiva</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for Tate?"</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid's mother stopped what she was doing and looked directly into her son's eyes. Then she spoke without emotion. "I did not love that man. I was married to him so I am responsible for burying him. I certainly will not </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sit</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shiva </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for him."</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"You do know that he was not really your father, right? There is no reason for you to say </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kadish </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for that man, much less tear your clothes and other </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mishegoss</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. But," she concluded, "we do need to bury him." She went back to washing dishes. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid made all of the arrangements for the funeral. The funeral was attended by his mother, all of her children and a handful of her husband's ne'er-do-well dreidl-spinning gambling buddies. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the funeral, babka, tea and schnapps were served in the family home. The gambling buddies left when the booze ran out and his mother sent the family off so she could, at last, be alone. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid returned to his house by the airport. The house felt very empty now, with Der Profesor no longer there and most of his children grown and raising families of their own. His favorite daughter, Tamar, was traveling with the klezmorim. Dovid checked on his wives. They were both sleeping. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid sat in his library. He drank whiskey by himself until he fell asleep. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQFknrHMd2Fkr1_oASbItmPdnIq9NK8lTZV04fGhOLxuVGjgb3Gw-2dlQMCyXENGEVnwo-EL1lgIt0c7yWizhLf1BmBYUtkULbHh1w6jQ4sVR71zJBLIhnTR4p7skdz8ZUtNneylRxWpgCHaSQ-YP1C5CtkYupZYVlAwDezPQexck4y-iZM0A_hM5tzg/s680/Andromeda_galaxy_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="680" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQFknrHMd2Fkr1_oASbItmPdnIq9NK8lTZV04fGhOLxuVGjgb3Gw-2dlQMCyXENGEVnwo-EL1lgIt0c7yWizhLf1BmBYUtkULbHh1w6jQ4sVR71zJBLIhnTR4p7skdz8ZUtNneylRxWpgCHaSQ-YP1C5CtkYupZYVlAwDezPQexck4y-iZM0A_hM5tzg/s320/Andromeda_galaxy_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-26813902-7fff-fd41-a97b-830ec7560ec9" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">פּלאַנעט</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-2b36316a-7fff-c4f4-598c-5634e925b445" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-c4a92255-7fff-5e30-87d4-af1cb1cbc0cd" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-35028aee-7fff-132b-0885-a7eb13b83bac" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-396e466a-7fff-9327-7e6d-ef2cab7e78dd" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-38bfd090-7fff-be72-5b75-d4fcf9322d30" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-3ddd04ac-7fff-c0dc-796f-c541e9b65d50" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-11821e99-7fff-400a-d680-7348c7fe7d8f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-62966116406002053792022-12-25T23:10:00.016-08:002023-01-25T00:32:34.673-08:00Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMXe40czI6oZJYODKSY70Fu6ly-XbkdIW6WP7V9N72RaLCWOCdTPwUGBOhmMq14RHgZjOAaAEyqMeuXe0TuIXCScwDnWRpeEQxBpTi-nQubz4soRBqwK3ophXjZBhzH3_tGvdTkjgcentAokyYFRJA3KNAuaMCXBTvi0NuIkxWHrBf8vWnRiWv0hzPQ/s414/Untitled_design_-_2022-12-25T165632005_1671969004963_1671969005081_1671969005081.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="414" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMXe40czI6oZJYODKSY70Fu6ly-XbkdIW6WP7V9N72RaLCWOCdTPwUGBOhmMq14RHgZjOAaAEyqMeuXe0TuIXCScwDnWRpeEQxBpTi-nQubz4soRBqwK3ophXjZBhzH3_tGvdTkjgcentAokyYFRJA3KNAuaMCXBTvi0NuIkxWHrBf8vWnRiWv0hzPQ/s320/Untitled_design_-_2022-12-25T165632005_1671969004963_1671969005081_1671969005081.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Zvi Baranoff </span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The troupe of klezmorim that Tamar had joined was one of the oldest, largest and best organized on Planet Birobidzhan. They toured planet-wide, year round. They were well received everywhere they went.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like most employment opportunities, the entry-level positions open to the very young on Planet Birobidzhan are unpaid apprenticeship roles. However, unlike other trades, there is greater flexibility among the klezmorim. A transition of roles within the troupe is far more fluid than among the bakers, shoemakers, bookbinders or other such trades where an apprentice is bound by a contract and stuck in a subservient position for years. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar, like all the other </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chaverim </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of this troupe, started out mostly as a general roustabout. She built stages, hung posters, cared for the goats, tuned other people's instruments, cooked meals, washed pots, sang in the chorus and played her fiddle in the back row. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The klezmorim headed east when they left First Landing. They diverted from the highway as they proceeded eastward to set up their big tent in the many shtetls that lie scattered between First Landing and New Jerusalem. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Along the way, Tamar was quickly recognized as a virtuoso. In spite of being so very young, her musical talents propelled her into starring roles. She, in turn, achieved more comfortable accommodations than most. She rapidly graduated from a pup tent to a private caravan as the troupe moved about. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In spite of Tamar's status as a headliner and a top earner, she would always lend a hand with setting up and breaking down the big tent that served as a mobile theater and the stage on which the troupe performed.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar was quite willing to assist in the loading and unloading of heavy gear. She would feed and water the goats that pulled the carts of gear. She was a wizard at troubleshooting the electronics of the sound system and lighting. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar's unmatched skills with an array of instruments awed everyone. The songs that she sang invoked an otherworldliness. Tamar earned the respect and affection of the entire crew. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When they arrived in New Jerusalem, a record company brought her into the studio, where she recorded a solo album. The album garnered a significant amount of success. It sold well and the songs were played often on Planet-wide radio stations for many years. The royalties were deposited into a bank account that Tamar set up for that purpose. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The troupe, after an extended stay in New Jerusalem, meandered north and then westward, visiting the remote shtetls of those regions until they made it to the west coast. Then, of course, they followed the coastline south, entertaining the fishing villages nestled wherever a suitable cove offered enough comfortable dockage to encourage fishing. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nearly two years had passed before they arrived in the vicinity of New New York. The troupe encamped on a plateau. In the valley below, the city of New New York was wrapped in a mist. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After settling in, and with no performance planned for that evening, Tamar went for a long walk. This was when she heard the Mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan once again calling her. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar came upon a fresh bloom of mushrooms. She ate some of the fleshy fungus and sat alone as the sky darkened and the stars filled the night sky. Soon, the plateau, the nearby troupe of klezmorim, the mist, and the stars all faded for Tamar. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar sat transfixed. She was oblivious to her immediate surroundings. What she saw, as if in broad daylight, was the city which was below her in the cloudy mists and blanketed by the darkness of the night sky. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New New York was a place that she had never even seen pictures of. In her vision she was shown that city in great detail. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Initially the perspective was an overview of the metropolis from above, transpiring with a rather dizzying effect. Then, the pace slowed as she was moving about through the unfamiliar streets. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a neighborhood bordering the coastline the pace of the motion became a gentle floating. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here, she saw a large Yeshiva and crowds of black-clad students milling about. Two rabbinic students momentarily came into focus. She saw their faces with utmost clarity. They seemed to be in sincere debate as they walked together down the street, their hands moved about gesticulating for emphasis and their </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">payos </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">swayed as they walked. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She was shown a prominent herbal apothecary with a glass display window and down the street a very inviting bakery. Adjacent to the bakery there was a door with a sign on it, although the writing on this sign was far too small for Tamar to read. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point the perspective spun outward until the city was completely obscured by a thick fog and the Mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan directed Tamar's attention elsewhere. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar watched New Landing and then Planet Birobidzhan regress in the distance from a portal as the craft she occupied was propelled upwards. She was shown unfamiliar constellations and planets. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, in what appeared to be a shipboard clinic, Tamar saw a rounded abdomen and raised knees and the encouraging faces of midwives. One baby and then another appeared in the secure hands of the midwives. In the mushroom-induced vision, two baby boys were eased onto her breasts and then the vision faded. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar was still sitting in the same position, on the ground among the Mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan, when sunrise brought light to the klezmorim encampment. She smelled food cooking from the mobile kitchen and heard the young roustabouts packing and loading equipment. The troupe was preparing to descend into New New York. Tamar went through the breakfast line and then joined in with the work at hand. </span></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDT1hOIQmbWc1LADekV6yieUgBr8TUSMxIitvJ6YGQj8y1B_AxDYlVef8vMAEKsPLV3jWsZ-9jAD3rN92yRbm6XAvvAEPNYG4l6yy_J6bXiYlzet7pSfEiP0kbtUBrQghZzisQakEcYEZSziTvUckfTz7T5326h29ynvA9H_qolW-MeM15fkgLgP0CHQ/s258/images%20(3).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="195" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDT1hOIQmbWc1LADekV6yieUgBr8TUSMxIitvJ6YGQj8y1B_AxDYlVef8vMAEKsPLV3jWsZ-9jAD3rN92yRbm6XAvvAEPNYG4l6yy_J6bXiYlzet7pSfEiP0kbtUBrQghZzisQakEcYEZSziTvUckfTz7T5326h29ynvA9H_qolW-MeM15fkgLgP0CHQ/s1600/images%20(3).jpeg" width="195" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-26813902-7fff-fd41-a97b-830ec7560ec9" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p></div><br /><div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-68ccdbe0-7fff-f85d-7a8a-26c265d3a512" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">פּלאַנעט</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-68ccdbe0-7fff-f85d-7a8a-26c265d3a512" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-68ccdbe0-7fff-f85d-7a8a-26c265d3a512" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /></div><div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-96d25445-7fff-226a-caa4-46f89a094a47" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-2ed0b8d3-7fff-475f-8785-3495867de130" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-35028aee-7fff-132b-0885-a7eb13b83bac" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-396e466a-7fff-9327-7e6d-ef2cab7e78dd" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-38bfd090-7fff-be72-5b75-d4fcf9322d30" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-3ddd04ac-7fff-c0dc-796f-c541e9b65d50" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-11821e99-7fff-400a-d680-7348c7fe7d8f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p></div>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-31989756748331315402022-12-25T01:41:00.018-08:002023-01-25T00:32:54.983-08:00Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlKaM581V1r9kDzjP1-jhqjCMSNojW6A0QIvd8m0jsYoCEa-BOQ-EptoQj-bSj7PlsQ2ntk-HNdUxsfH-SdV2RiG35LEz5PCaY3Iod4I3Q1790TsfSS8Sr9Zlx86MSs1e1bfTc7eahL-dW6X8UMG1oR_D8dC09zaFu3440fTUpI44hgiT3W7iLTA40tw/s600/pia20027_updated_slide-b0569343188d285c369fea07d3ae2cb53e3bbebb-s600-c85.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlKaM581V1r9kDzjP1-jhqjCMSNojW6A0QIvd8m0jsYoCEa-BOQ-EptoQj-bSj7PlsQ2ntk-HNdUxsfH-SdV2RiG35LEz5PCaY3Iod4I3Q1790TsfSS8Sr9Zlx86MSs1e1bfTc7eahL-dW6X8UMG1oR_D8dC09zaFu3440fTUpI44hgiT3W7iLTA40tw/s320/pia20027_updated_slide-b0569343188d285c369fea07d3ae2cb53e3bbebb-s600-c85.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-ea087b4c-7fff-9473-0f3b-c9f0b6af1b4e" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Zvi Baranoff </span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-ea087b4c-7fff-9473-0f3b-c9f0b6af1b4e" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid had an extended and ongoing relationship with the Mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan, finding them in wild places and consuming them where they grow. Most likely he was the only person to ever have eaten them until his young daughter Tamar heard the Mushrooms calling her. No one had cultivated the fungi before Tamar. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Der Profesor was the first person to be introduced to the cultivated Mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan. Following his first session consuming the fleshy mushrooms, he was very sure that Tamar and Dovid had discovered a powerful and useful tool. He was also absolutely sure that an uncharted and quite dangerous social terrain was being engaged. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the hypnotic phase had ended and some semblance of normal consciousness had returned, Der Profesor entered his personal quarters and sat in his chair surrounded by books. This is where Dovid found his mentor, with a tome in his lap.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"We risk the wrath of those that won't understand," Der Profesor said to Dovid without looking up from his book. Then, after a long pause, he said "Aish Zerah" in Hebrew and then "Fremd Feyer" in Yiddish. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"We damn well better get some rabbis aligned with us before the mushrooms become common knowledge." With that, he closed his book and went to bed, leaving Dovid alone in his study. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid picked up Der Profesor's volume, a copy of the Tanakh. The Book opened to </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vayikra</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, what the Greeks called Leviticus.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid read about the brothers Nadab and Abihu and their misadventure with a Foreign Fire. Moshe's nephews, Aaron's oldest sons, were consumed by a Heavenly flame for their audacity in starting a small unauthorized fire. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid knew that they ran a greater risk from religious zealots than Heavenly wrath, especially on Planet Birobidzhan which seems to be beyond any Heavenly Concern. Der Profesor was right that they would need their own rabbis. A minimum of three, to be exact. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Planet Birobidzhan was awash with rabbis. Most likely, the plethora of rabbinic authorities is what had kept Planet Birobidzhan from becoming a theocracy. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With so many rabbis holding so many vastly different opinions on every possible issue, Planet Birobidzhan was assured that there was never an unanimous position on anything. None of these had the authority to give orders to any of the rest. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If there had been significantly less rabbis, the rabbinic courts might have wielded considerably more potentially destructive power. On Planet Birobidzhan, rabbis were plentiful and individually carried very little weight. Additionally, there are always lots of rabbis for hire. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Any three rabbis were, at least in theory, able to constitute a rabbinic court. If there were an assuredly sympathetic rabbinic court essentially on call, that would counterbalance any potential adverse effects of other rabbis and their courts. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two days later the corporation had six rabbis on the payroll, a few extra just in case. Then, both Dovid and Der Profesor felt secure enough to invite others to learn from the Mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Invitations for initiates to partake in consuming the Mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan were only extended to those directly involved with the remodeling of the Hatikvah transport ship and those that planned on joining the expedition. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With the guidance of the fungi, the project moved steadily forward. Distant constellations began to feel far more accessible and much closer. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSzlVY4SriThJEs-o31cypBOulnXaL2So7iSl5EwDIDzEggwJ2QDd0SHZ1yENaIRUcVoD_1XtvXxYPQsYtursYFg6qUsg-C3XaQUiU_6xxwT_D4Al7xT2kIU4JOmuCorWjd9qDhk-aZX7VX0DcvTq4-yWokZn8Q5vK9UZ7kw4hcuWT6VT5F56T8UlrZw/s306/220px-The_Sin_of_Nadab_and_Abihu.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="220" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSzlVY4SriThJEs-o31cypBOulnXaL2So7iSl5EwDIDzEggwJ2QDd0SHZ1yENaIRUcVoD_1XtvXxYPQsYtursYFg6qUsg-C3XaQUiU_6xxwT_D4Al7xT2kIU4JOmuCorWjd9qDhk-aZX7VX0DcvTq4-yWokZn8Q5vK9UZ7kw4hcuWT6VT5F56T8UlrZw/s1600/220px-The_Sin_of_Nadab_and_Abihu.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-26813902-7fff-fd41-a97b-830ec7560ec9" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p></div><br /><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-f728ca53-7fff-f854-f3a5-dcf388caa77f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">פּלאַנעט</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-f728ca53-7fff-f854-f3a5-dcf388caa77f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-f728ca53-7fff-f854-f3a5-dcf388caa77f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-2de6d8d3-7fff-9ca1-db43-8a0270e39497" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-9293db2d-7fff-5939-6605-d83abe6edb02" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-2ed0b8d3-7fff-475f-8785-3495867de130" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-35028aee-7fff-132b-0885-a7eb13b83bac" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-772685fc-7fff-cf1a-bc4e-b124d2980a41" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-38bfd090-7fff-be72-5b75-d4fcf9322d30" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-3ddd04ac-7fff-c0dc-796f-c541e9b65d50" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-11821e99-7fff-400a-d680-7348c7fe7d8f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-47487131305320454422022-12-15T17:16:00.017-08:002023-01-25T00:33:14.909-08:00Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghCSiyUuh6k0nxQyrOFq1D-71INCd6ReopOt3mlAYiU8I3idXQBF8O0GDCsbz-awdo5PJ_r321TRf8HqF0MP5gERGCwoXqnOgy2kV7ewplC-ZtL77eTrr9x_Rx-Br6poKFm_BSfLn6NjprwBkLXc-d9OH7UMjc2SbHswBkdjLaY46phBlcg5I0DmHYIw/s800/the-tilt-in-our-stars.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="800" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghCSiyUuh6k0nxQyrOFq1D-71INCd6ReopOt3mlAYiU8I3idXQBF8O0GDCsbz-awdo5PJ_r321TRf8HqF0MP5gERGCwoXqnOgy2kV7ewplC-ZtL77eTrr9x_Rx-Br6poKFm_BSfLn6NjprwBkLXc-d9OH7UMjc2SbHswBkdjLaY46phBlcg5I0DmHYIw/s320/the-tilt-in-our-stars.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-1e5dabdf-7fff-dc3b-1c8a-5d977ee47403" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Zvi Baranoff </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The years had passed since the launching of the first satellite placed in rotation around Planet Birobidzhan. The satellite brought improvements to communications, worldwide radio reception, and also a steady passive income for Dovid and Der Profesor. It was not enough money, however, for all that they hoped to accomplish. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The business of the satellite was fairly straightforward. There was certainly a fair degree of what could be understood as graft involved, or what is commonly called </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aun Vas?</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on Planet Birobidzhan as was true of all enterprise</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The ownership and management of the satellite was a partnership in the control of Dovid and Der Profesor. They raised the investment capital, managed the enterprise, and spent the profits as they saw fit without any oversight. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Travel to the stars called for the much larger economic modeling of a corporation or more accurately a syndicate or a cabal, rather than a simple partnership. Massive amounts of capital were needed. There was no straightforward way to raise that kind of capital. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The satellite helped spur a renewed curiosity in the possibility of intergalactic travel. Still, only a fraction of the population expressed any deep interest and fewer still were willing to put their </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tuches offen tish</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with actual </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gelt </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for such. We had lived on Planet Birobidzhan for many generations and we had acclimated to that world. Still, some Yidden began to step forward, or were drawn in, bringing their Shekels to the project. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Investors introduced new complications as each had expectations that needed consideration…or, at least placating. A Corporation requires a Board of Directors that nominally answers to investors that expect a return on their investments. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Much of the technical aspects of the enterprise were essentially being guided by the mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan. The mushrooms seemed to understand physics, biology, electronics, fuel systems and more. Even much of the social aspects were likely manipulated by those forces. The mushrooms played a direct role, for instance, in instigating Dovid's courtship of Rifka Leeba. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What the mushrooms had no concept of is economics or financial matters. The mushrooms left such </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">petty</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> considerations to humanity. However, without funding, traveling through the stars could only be hallucinations or science fiction. Interstellar travel is very expensive. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The unvarnished truth of the matter is that the likelihood of any financial return hovered somewhere close to nil. The successful profitability of even that tiniest fraction of a percentage within one's lifetime was even less likely. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid, Der Profesor and the small circle of trusted confidants learned to listen deeply and to tell potential investors exactly what they wanted to hear. All told, the co-conspirators became adept at the art of disinformation and boldface calculated lies to hoodwink investors. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hands down, investors believed that the greatest potential was to reconnect with the Home Planet. Some hoped for repatriation. Others envisioned development of trade between Planet Birobidzhan and Planet Earth. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The consortium assured investors that such a strategic approach would lead to a healthy return on an investment. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">To be skeptical of successfully reconnecting with Planet Earth was certainly a reasonable outlook. Over two centuries had passed since communication with the Home Planet had been unceremoniously severed. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">All that the settlers at the time of the disconnect could do was to speculate about what went wrong. All of the guessing involved some level of catastrophic occurrence. Something horrible had surely happened but our ancestors could not fathom what occurred any better than Dovid and his associates could two centuries later. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The consortium delved into an extensive profusion of overly optimistic speculation of snafus and foul ups that </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">could</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> have led to the severance from the Home Planet that fell short of catastrophic. Maybe, rather than a disaster, communication fell off because someone hadn't paid the phone bill or our brethren on the Home Planet had simply lost interest in extra planetary excursions. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps, Dovid's band of fundraisers proposed, the Agency had simply gone bankrupt, the pyramid scheme collapsing on itself and there were no funds to even inform the settlers of Planet Birobidzhan. Perhaps Earth had forgotten about us and life on Planet Earth was thriving and we would be welcomed back with open arms. This is the sort of thing that was said to potential investors. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Within the organization, and out of earshot of their marks, those sorts of investors were referred to as Lot's Wife.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some Yidden hoped to make contact with other human settlement planets. The settling of Planet Birobidzhan did not occur in a social void. Other exploration projects were also set in motion at that time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seemed plausible that some settlements on other planets were nearby - essentially in the same neighborhood. Investors held hope for trade. However, it certainly seemed unlikely that any other settlement in this particular quadrant would be an attractive trading partner. Likely, any parallel settlement would be in roughly the same condition as Planet Birobidzhan, with precious few opportunities to offer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, there were those that envisioned an expedition of discovery that would return wealth to Planet Birobidzhan. They were promised a wealth of discovery that would be relayed back to Planet Birobidzhan from the very inception of flight. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, none of the stories told to investors reflected the actual intentions of Dovid and his consortium as influenced by the mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan. Their intention was resettlement for a small contingent of pioneers. They had no interest in Planet Earth and no concern for the interests of investors. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When sufficient funding was available, the consortium set out to acquire the Hatikvah. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">What could be more fitting than using the vehicle that began the Planet Birobidzhan settlement experiment in the first place, two centuries earlier? Of course, there were quite a few steps that would need to take place before that would be possible. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">After two centuries of sitting on the edge of the airport and serving as an apartment building, entertainment center and market, there were a lot of diverse interests that would need placating to simply acquire the Hatikvah, before the massive retrofit could even begin.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many of the apartments were occupied by the families of the original Hatikvah passengers. There was a lot of emotional investment in a home where the family can trace ownership back over two hundred years. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apartment buildings needed to be built to resettle these families. Each family wanted a place just a little better than the abode they were giving up. They wanted a better view, higher ceilings, more space and greater comforts. Each family also expected to be compensated as well for the trouble. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The merchants that operated businesses in the Hatikvah each considered their stalls to be prime real estate. A shopping mall was built for those businesses. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The original hydroponic growing facilities were still in operation, cared for by some of the descendents of the farmers that had arrived on the Hatikvah. They too needed new facilities and compensation. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Around twelve hundred Yidden boarded the Hatikvah on the Home Planet and traveled on that first ship to initiate the settlement of the world that became known as Planet Birobidzhan. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">That voyage took nearly eighteen years and transpired in living and breathing very real time and not the cryogenic deep sleep of all the following flights. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The original Hatikvah was designed for one-way travel. The destination was programmed into the automated systems that piloted her through the vastness of galactic mileage transpired. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The rekindled Hatikvah faced a different set of challenges and therefore required broader piloting options. On the flight from Earth, they knew where they were heading and had no perceived need for the propulsion rockets and fuel capacity for reentry to space. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When leaving Planet Birobidzhan, on this flight those on board were quite uncertain as to where they were headed. They needed the security of being able to choose to leave any planet they landed on.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Because of the need for more equipment that would add weight and take up space, the repurposed Hatikvah would have far less passenger space. With significant reductions in personal space and common areas, they had to assume less people would be able to travel than on the original voyage. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The corporation continued over these years to consolidate resources and to spend those Shekels retrofitting the ship. It was all a monumental task and very costly.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As this work was being done, a tight knit shadowy community of a few hundred pioneers was being formed, drawn together and empowered by semi-regular gatherings where the cultivated mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan were consumed. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG_VEuseDvlawPxQBS_75fxn06UP7Y8ALE0jIueoJ4eY65fgy5QsWgVJT2aXAUPVVKbNQ_SbJOSE3byFtS4wbQsk7xAb1owVrXPiJ0YOLPN-9PHLv9jgIAC1_ZlPtsqGO9J58sLGA5MOadIpN7yMoiAdC3DnbgjYOQbTv_5Oojt-0kOW0QDwaWfdd-eQ/s650/bhv89KdG7Lb2scAxKwXJd7-650-80.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="650" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG_VEuseDvlawPxQBS_75fxn06UP7Y8ALE0jIueoJ4eY65fgy5QsWgVJT2aXAUPVVKbNQ_SbJOSE3byFtS4wbQsk7xAb1owVrXPiJ0YOLPN-9PHLv9jgIAC1_ZlPtsqGO9J58sLGA5MOadIpN7yMoiAdC3DnbgjYOQbTv_5Oojt-0kOW0QDwaWfdd-eQ/s320/bhv89KdG7Lb2scAxKwXJd7-650-80.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-26813902-7fff-fd41-a97b-830ec7560ec9" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-6d5a4b8a-7fff-eb7f-a5d2-94d321aec9d7" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">פּלאַנעט</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-6d5a4b8a-7fff-eb7f-a5d2-94d321aec9d7" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-6d5a4b8a-7fff-eb7f-a5d2-94d321aec9d7" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-6d5a4b8a-7fff-eb7f-a5d2-94d321aec9d7" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-053d7cc7-7fff-819e-0550-0f3056b675f4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-9293db2d-7fff-5939-6605-d83abe6edb02" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-2ed0b8d3-7fff-475f-8785-3495867de130" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-35028aee-7fff-132b-0885-a7eb13b83bac" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-772685fc-7fff-cf1a-bc4e-b124d2980a41" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-38bfd090-7fff-be72-5b75-d4fcf9322d30" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-3ddd04ac-7fff-c0dc-796f-c541e9b65d50" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-11821e99-7fff-400a-d680-7348c7fe7d8f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-19310918378963402372022-12-04T18:10:00.001-08:002022-12-04T18:10:29.875-08:00A Detour Through the Fire <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4UQIX4eJyOE1FHSxFcboDXdlcOpNLMlGAZF-qAkOu7Bw0Sy1IY23Dcjr1cKVSc-fdOeyrrRs-tKPlD4kmT7Efejle1a1T4oLrQqgF5W7fg1aa_ZXYI8HKmQuYZtzjhLyzeiq2ghF_-7Z1_sy4c0Ak1Heaxdq2mrN0ucIB9-x66gy601r3lv7Gjq9cA/s1626/20211203_175906.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="975" data-original-width="1626" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4UQIX4eJyOE1FHSxFcboDXdlcOpNLMlGAZF-qAkOu7Bw0Sy1IY23Dcjr1cKVSc-fdOeyrrRs-tKPlD4kmT7Efejle1a1T4oLrQqgF5W7fg1aa_ZXYI8HKmQuYZtzjhLyzeiq2ghF_-7Z1_sy4c0Ak1Heaxdq2mrN0ucIB9-x66gy601r3lv7Gjq9cA/s320/20211203_175906.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-a8491010-7fff-5ee3-6ae7-92ef1a1026a4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"We are asleep</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with compasses</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in our hands"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">W. S. Merwin</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Zvi Baranoff </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We sat in a back room of the Red Sea Bar and Grill. We had a full spread of Italian and Ethiopian food and the privacy we needed. Frank drank the Dago Red House blend. I stuck to seltzer, still a bit wary of alcohol in any form. </span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We had a lot to work through. First, of course, involved counting and divvying up the money at hand. The math required was all thoroughly convoluted, with the further complications of the various currencies and their fluctuating value. Even without that consideration, there was still plenty to unwind.</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everyone needs a taste. Not everyone would receive an equal share, but each needed to feel that they were being treated fairly. There were expenses to deduct. There was now a fortune spread out across the continent, out on credit. That would require tracking, collecting and an ongoing distribution.</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We spent hours counting bills and moving them about in piles and eventually settling all of our immediate local expenses. Then, we worked late into the night divvying up the responsibility of tracking our action that was by now stretching across the continent.</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was nearly dawn when we exited the back door of the Red Sea. I was very tired but satisfied that we had done all that was needed for the time being. With a little luck, in six or so months we would be flush. </span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As anxious as I was to go home, there were still a couple more necessary stops. I had also made a Holy Vow that I would visit Dave in Tennessee. Granted, I made that promise in a moment of extreme anxiety bordering on terror. Nonetheless, a promise is a promise, especially of this sort. </span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My word is my bond, or something like that. Anyway, I intended to keep that oath. I retrieved my vehicle from the parking garage and set the automated pilot to a Hyperloop Station where I could jump in the general direction of Dave's spread. </span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As worn raw as I was by that point, I was quite willing to let the car drive itself. By then, I wasn't even pondering on how much I dislike the computer driving or even contemplating the psychic and physical derangement that traveling by hyperloop entails. I was just exhausted beyond even being fussy and whiny, in spite of my natural inclination.</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, I gasped a bit, I inadvertently held my breath, and I swallowed back the bile as my car dropped down what had once been a mining shaft and is now a portal into the hyperloop system. </span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The car re-emerged in the foothills of Tennessee. The smoke from the fires reduced visibility. It instantly irritated my lungs and made my eyes scratchy to the point of tears. The air was thick and clawed at my throat. </span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The formerly seasonal fires were now nearly year round. It was mid day but the sunlight was filtering through an overcast of smoke and presented an otherworldly orange glow. On arrival, this is quite disorienting. </span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The locals seem to take it in stride. They have acclimated over the years. Everyone compensates with masks and backup oxygen. Every vehicle carries fire fighting equipment and heat reflection survival gear. All the locals have a grayish tint to their skin and the raspy voices formerly attributed to blues musicians. </span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I set my coordinates. I coughed and wiped my eyes. The car drove towards Woodpecker Flats. I watched the fires lapping at the edges of the tarmac. </span></p><p><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJB1uevOMUhj3yAxj1Jd43e2nwYakW6wwW3KyOYc8PJ7cASpiuUyouM3_elElDNqKc2W6NGETacHbQBwwKD1qmmItgFpDoFQYgk8mVg5YIHkTCMQGG7reGmIlN35b9E5jYK_G1rkonMLizm9joAfjZM13_z_3V7hX37A9PM4RIOH8eTKIy3hmGn1vafg/s972/Fire_whirl_(FWS)_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="972" data-original-width="782" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJB1uevOMUhj3yAxj1Jd43e2nwYakW6wwW3KyOYc8PJ7cASpiuUyouM3_elElDNqKc2W6NGETacHbQBwwKD1qmmItgFpDoFQYgk8mVg5YIHkTCMQGG7reGmIlN35b9E5jYK_G1rkonMLizm9joAfjZM13_z_3V7hX37A9PM4RIOH8eTKIy3hmGn1vafg/s320/Fire_whirl_(FWS)_crop.jpg" width="257" /></a></div><br /><div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4f1dd553-7fff-0be4-fbed-50b67b067faa" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Links to the earlier posted parts of this story, Chapters 1 - 25.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 1: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grace and Mercy If Luck Holds </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/05/grace-and-mercy-if-luck-holds.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/05/grace-and-mercy-if-luck-holds.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 2: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everything Was Fine Until It All Went Sideways</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/07/everything-was-fine-until-it-all-went.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/07/everything-was-fine-until-it-all-went.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 3:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I Blink In & Out and Awakened In the Zone</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/07/i-blink-in-out-and-awakened-in-zone.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/07/i-blink-in-out-and-awakened-in-zone.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 4: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Out Of Time</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/07/out-of-time.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/07/out-of-time.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 5: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even Without Clocks</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/07/even-without-clocks.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/07/even-without-clocks.html</span></a></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 6: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cerveza & Barbecue Before I Go</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/cerveza-barbecue-before-i-go.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/cerveza-barbecue-before-i-go.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 7: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Heading Towards the Exit</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/heading-towards-exit.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/heading-towards-exit.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 8: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Sign, Divine Guidance & Moxie</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-sign-divine-guidance-moxie.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-sign-divine-guidance-moxie.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 9: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Somehow We Kept Breathing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/somehow-we-kept-breathing.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/somehow-we-kept-breathing.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 10:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I Squinted and Stared Through it All</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/i-squinted-and-stared-through-it-all.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/i-squinted-and-stared-through-it-all.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 11: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Riding a Wave</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/riding-wave.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/riding-wave.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 12: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some Relief Amongst the Chaos at Woodpecker Flats</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/some-relief-amongst-chaos-at-woodpecker.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/08/some-relief-amongst-chaos-at-woodpecker.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 13:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> A "Classy" Operation in the District of Columbia</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-classy-operation-in-district-of.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-classy-operation-in-district-of.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 14:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> In the Shadow of the Dome</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/09/in-shadow-of-dome.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/09/in-shadow-of-dome.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 15: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hidden Places and Dark Corners</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/11/hidden-places-and-dark-corners.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/11/hidden-places-and-dark-corners.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 16: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the Jersey Shore</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/12/on-jersey-shore.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2020/12/on-jersey-shore.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 17: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dreaming at the No Tell Motel</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/01/dreaming-at-no-tell-motel.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/01/dreaming-at-no-tell-motel.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 18: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Coffee Didn't Help</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-coffee-didnt-help.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-coffee-didnt-help.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 19: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like Two Drops of Rain</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/02/like-two-drops-of-rain.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/02/like-two-drops-of-rain.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 20 : </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chased by the Devil</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/03/chased-by-devil.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/03/chased-by-devil.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 21: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An Arcade and a Penny for Your Thoughts</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/11/an-arcade-and-penny-for-your-thoughts.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/11/an-arcade-and-penny-for-your-thoughts.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 22: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We Have to Talk, She Said</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/11/we-have-to-talk-she-said.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/11/we-have-to-talk-she-said.html</span></a></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 23: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She Climbed Out of the Water</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/12/she-climbed-out-of-water.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2021/12/she-climbed-out-of-water.html</span></a></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 24: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Passions, Fires and Unfinished Business</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/04/unfinished-business.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/04/unfinished-business.html</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part 25: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Book Trade Hasn't Killed Me Yet </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-book-trade-hasnt-killed-me-yet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-book-trade-hasnt-killed-me-yet.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /></div>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-43460736073046450962022-11-26T16:54:00.022-08:002023-01-25T00:33:36.451-08:00Tamar's Mushrooms <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9S0httWwWGdzi6kjY-HISsKc7vsvRyqe0R6wLMUk501CijeDfi1nzzHs1Mh0x5XiUkjsKXXQYe2KCKGJjJjGq19zMdKMfQoI69H8jYZn8vRJmoGZil2uXJVR-i0VJdFMbUmRzI4Q8nDUFHxFIV4Sq9Be4Tia8vYWjVoELMwFEIiPV0pDwSch80gtmQ/s1200/rotated-1668191624-hubble-arp248-potw2244a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9S0httWwWGdzi6kjY-HISsKc7vsvRyqe0R6wLMUk501CijeDfi1nzzHs1Mh0x5XiUkjsKXXQYe2KCKGJjJjGq19zMdKMfQoI69H8jYZn8vRJmoGZil2uXJVR-i0VJdFMbUmRzI4Q8nDUFHxFIV4Sq9Be4Tia8vYWjVoELMwFEIiPV0pDwSch80gtmQ/s320/rotated-1668191624-hubble-arp248-potw2244a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Zvi Baranoff </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Carpenters were hired to build the mushroom growing facility, according to the specifications of Tamar's sketchbook. It was built at the airport, adjacent to Der Profesor's house, where Dovid and his ever expanding brood continued to live. Tamar supervised the construction. It was assuredly unusual to have a five year old girl overseeing a construction project.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar sat above the workmen, clutching her favorite doll, while watching the work closely. She periodically marched in to assure the correction of the tiniest irregularities in alignment or any misplaced nails. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar would approach with the rag doll in one hand, her sketchbook in the other and a very seriously pouting countenance. She would insist that the miscreant workman resolve the issue. Then, she would return to her perch with her doll.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After several days, the mushroom cultivation facility was completed, including Tamar's final inspection. The workmen went on to other jobs with less demanding taskmasters. Tamar went out to play. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And while playing, Tamar heard the voices calling to her and she followed the sound. When she came upon the bloom of mushrooms, she carefully harvested as many as would fit into her backpack in the precise way that she had been shown in her previous trance-like encounter with the fungi of Planet Birobidzhan. She returned to the newly constructed cultivation facility and successfully transplanted her find. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The design of the facility allowed for a perpetual growth cycle. Within a few weeks, the first harvest was made while other chambers were in various stages of growth. Tamar brought the first harvested fungi to her father and Dovid shared them with Der Profesor. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Der Profesor had been fascinated by Dovid's encounters with the fungi of Planet Birobidzhan from the first time he had learned of them. He scoured the library books and the computer databases to learn all that was available about the entheogenic plants and fungi of the Home Planet, although there was no way of knowing if the experiences of the Earth-bound were relevant. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It certainly seemed likely that the largely religious experiences of those that ate cactus flowers, the roots of shrubs, and various fungi on Planet Earth might be a guidepost for similar experiences on Planet Birobidzhan. Der Profesor was certainly willing to find out. However, considering his advanced age, he was not actively hiking through wilderness in a way that would likely lead to a personal encounter with a wild mushroom bloom. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No one had considered the possibility of the cultivation of such until the mushrooms themselves guided Tamar in that way. Cultivation opened up a whole new potential for Der Profesor and others to join in the experimental lessons being offered by the mushrooms of Planet Birobidzhan. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Der Profesor advocated a cautious approach to introducing new people to the experience. The practice of eating these unfamiliar substances and following advice from unknown sources held potentially dangerous and disruptive social consequences. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar did not eat the fleshy mushrooms after the initial consumption for many years. She was transformed by them nonetheless. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar would spend hours at a time maintaining the ideal conditions for the mushrooms. Mushrooms grow in dark damp places and thrive on decaying wood and excrement. Cart loads of such matter were delivered to the airport almost daily. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar would fill her child-size wheelbarrow using her child-sized shovel and maneuver the poignant growing medium into the beds to feed </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">her </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mushrooms. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar assured that proper temperatures, darkness and humidity levels were maintained in each chamber. She would check gauges, adding water or adjusting the heat when needed. Sometimes, she would just sit, communing with the fungi. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When not directly involved with the mushrooms, Tamar appeared to be a fairly typical little girl, at least to begin with. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Living in a household with more than a dozen older siblings and a gaggle of younger ones, Tamar did not particularly stand out as unusual…at least at first. However, if anyone had taken a closer look, the signposts of disruption would have been evident. Over the following couple of years, however, her odd behavior became obvious to even a casual observer.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar carried an odor of compost and manure with her at all times, even with frequent and assiduous bathing. This may not have been so unusual for a boy living in a small shtetl. It was certainly a bit more unusual for a small girl living in Planet Birobidzhan's third largest city.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Indeed, it could be said that Tamar had a relationship with the fungi. Tamar considered the mushrooms to be hers in the sense of her family rather than her property. She perceived the fungi to be like honored ancestors or perhaps even as her </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">real </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mother. The mushrooms spoke to her in a tongue that she alone could hear and understand. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar had always been a quiet child. As the daily meticulous communication with fungi continued, she began to speak less and less to people. Living in a large, noisy family, this change went largely unnoticed for a while. That is, until Tamar stopped speaking altogether. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That she stopped speaking altogether is not exactly true. On a rare occasion she could be heard, from a distance, holding a conversation with herself. And, sometimes, when on a long walk with her father, Tamar would climb into Dovid's lap and listen while he recited simple rhymes and Tamar would hum to herself. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was on such an occasion, a long walk from home on a hot summer day, that they sat in the shade of a large tree. Dovid casually stroked the girl's hair while repeating a nonsense rhyme that he had learned from his mother, the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Tamar turned her head to face her father and spoke.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Tate," she said, "What's a spider?"</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid was surprised to hear her words and hesitated briefly before answering. "A spider, I suppose, is some sort of tiny creature that lives on the Home Planet. We don't have spiders on Planet Birobidzhan," Dovid answered. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Oh," replied Tamar. "Then, this rhyme is a simplified retelling of the Sisyphus myth," the child rejoined before sliding back into her own silence. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The spinning also was overlooked for a while. Spinning is a common activity for young children. However, the dreidel-like gyrations became pervasive for most of Tamar's waking hours outside of her time directly involved with the mushrooms. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The only other times that Tamar refrained from the odd cyclical behavior was while drawing and making music. Those activities were encouraged by her family. Everyone felt a sense of relief when the spinning subsided. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was fortuitous that Dovid had an unlimited account at Moshe and Mendel's Jew Harp, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tsatske aun</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Muzik Krom. Tamar would enter the store in Downtown First Landing, pick up art supplies or a new instrument and exit without a word. The clerks all knew her and would simply make a notation of the "purchase" to be added to Dovid's tab.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the next few years, Tamar mastered one instrument after another on her own. She took no lessons. She studied no theory and didn't read music. She played unaccompanied and oblivious to others. She blended sounds that came from some deep internal reservoir or perhaps from the stars.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometime after Tamar's thirteenth birthday she once again ate some of the fleshy mushrooms. It was after sunset and Tamar laid in a field staring wordlessly at the star filled sky. The next day, Tamar entered the family home and began interacting with her siblings and their mothers as if there had been nothing unusual about the last eight years. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was the summer following Tamar's thirteenth birthday that a traveling troupe of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">klezmorim </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">encamped near the airport and their nightly concerts drew large audiences. Tamar attended every one of the performances. When the troupe moved on, Tamar, with her vast collection of instruments, left with them.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptdFhUkH3Gftn0KI1kboDcSclvlPqSVqkVjLUWRyDDHzr0LG8EbPreaF947UxWkJweNI2yPHzbORRdFsm6nsl7VDR79sNuXeIz-RlNViDLMfE4QP5uEur_zdK0kLK1NeHq1Ht0Wvmw7BbT8CLdxRdjyXwyUAWvlu-A6UcZ-BN1bg_UuwKL6L3glwIcQ/s233/download%20(6).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="233" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptdFhUkH3Gftn0KI1kboDcSclvlPqSVqkVjLUWRyDDHzr0LG8EbPreaF947UxWkJweNI2yPHzbORRdFsm6nsl7VDR79sNuXeIz-RlNViDLMfE4QP5uEur_zdK0kLK1NeHq1Ht0Wvmw7BbT8CLdxRdjyXwyUAWvlu-A6UcZ-BN1bg_UuwKL6L3glwIcQ/s1600/download%20(6).jpeg" width="233" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-26813902-7fff-fd41-a97b-830ec7560ec9" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-705cd567-7fff-70e8-48b1-68e4a38a79cf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-705cd567-7fff-70e8-48b1-68e4a38a79cf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">פּלאַנעט</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-705cd567-7fff-70e8-48b1-68e4a38a79cf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-705cd567-7fff-70e8-48b1-68e4a38a79cf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the posted installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-cc6bf1e6-7fff-8a5f-99a7-1f18bb69ac80" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-693accea-7fff-89cd-fb09-e4b191c35107" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-9293db2d-7fff-5939-6605-d83abe6edb02" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-2ed0b8d3-7fff-475f-8785-3495867de130" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-35028aee-7fff-132b-0885-a7eb13b83bac" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-772685fc-7fff-cf1a-bc4e-b124d2980a41" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-38bfd090-7fff-be72-5b75-d4fcf9322d30" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-3ddd04ac-7fff-c0dc-796f-c541e9b65d50" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-11821e99-7fff-400a-d680-7348c7fe7d8f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-69101275595843291892022-11-22T01:24:00.018-08:002023-01-25T00:33:59.337-08:00An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQxSiiO8YivkHqTTsLwqFh8S4bfB5YhYZmZDinpxK50JA_zNfv-U7phydnc9lbEA8SCAADJYeUSuXA9TwmDoxNaEVDxErb6T45FtqSMF2GxMOdFeFbVmRpE4yjYlNMsrdgobVakmtnrDWYaLOIvUj-PNFpZ_R_JoIL3uaANqO0wyHvkF6auwU87Obnw/s480/221116115144-james-webb-space-telescope-hourglass-star-formation-crop.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="480" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQxSiiO8YivkHqTTsLwqFh8S4bfB5YhYZmZDinpxK50JA_zNfv-U7phydnc9lbEA8SCAADJYeUSuXA9TwmDoxNaEVDxErb6T45FtqSMF2GxMOdFeFbVmRpE4yjYlNMsrdgobVakmtnrDWYaLOIvUj-PNFpZ_R_JoIL3uaANqO0wyHvkF6auwU87Obnw/s320/221116115144-james-webb-space-telescope-hourglass-star-formation-crop.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-ab0c833f-7fff-ae5f-3b42-1728a2bf3cf6" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Zvi Baranoff </span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-ab0c833f-7fff-ae5f-3b42-1728a2bf3cf6" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps this story deserves an introduction. However, by this point in the telling, we are quite late for that option. For now, we will call this an interlude. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most stories that you will read have a beginning, a middle and an end, and perhaps even a moral. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It grieves me to say so, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">es tut mir layd,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it hurts me, but I am not really sure how, or exactly when, this tale begins. In the beginning there was the void and then there was form. It is described in Genesis. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am quite uncertain about how it all ends. Our prophets offer some veiled illusions, but no conclusions. Some faiths of other peoples delve much more into such concepts of Apocalyptic End Times than our tradition. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The middle is quite garbled. Most of our tale here is likely closer to the end than the beginning, but who knows? </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Es tut mir layd </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for a lack of greater clarity. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps offering some context might be a soothing gesture. If I can actually provide context, perhaps that would prove to be useful to a reader. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our story of the Yidden on Planet Birobidzhan seems to backtrack, ramble and twist in on itself. Our tale is full of doubt and uncertainty. That this is a very Jewish story might be the reason for the rambling, a continuation on a trajectory that reaches back to the very beginning of time itself . Maybe that explains it. Maybe it doesn't. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ikh vis nisht. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I suffer from a condition of nostalgia. I am dissatisfied with the present. I long for a better time. I have a nearly perpetual sense that my very existence is an anachronism. Maybe that explains it. Maybe it doesn't. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ikh vis nisht.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That certainly isn't an exclusively Jewish condition. I think it is a widespread human phenomenon. Other individuals from other cultures have suffered with such. However, a state of nostalgia and displacement does seem particularly pervasive amongst the Yidden. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where did our People, our Blessed Ancestors, come from? The simple answer is Planet Earth, of course. But, that answer explains very little about our lineage. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All humanity derived from a common lineage, one mother, a single spark. We even all had a single </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shprakh</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. What that language was, we do not know. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Humanity dispersed globally. Each region, and all the peoples of each region, developed their own </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mama Loshen</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I suppose. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Farsheteyt? </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can't say that I really understand, but indeed the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shprakh </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of each of us became babbling in each other's ears. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our Father Abraham originated in Ur Kasdim, located in a land that was later known as Iraq. Abraham developed a personal and direct relationship with God and with that our fate, as a people, begins to be distinct from the rest of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mentshen </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of Planet Earth. That relationship with the Creator is the inheritance that his descendants receive, but not evenly distributed. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Father Abraham's wife had not been able to conceive. Mother Sarah, in her old age, offered her servant as a surrogate to bare children for her. The servant and Abraham's first son, however, are left to fend for themselves in the wilderness because Sarah's reasoning was displaced with jealousy. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What we know of Abraham's immediate family, and those that follow, we learn from the Tanakh, the assemblage of texts that others call the Old Testament. It serves as a history, a guidepost, a legal structure, a blueprint, a tool for divination and as a national saga. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a people, we are very concerned about lineage. Our Tanakh is full of instances of displaced lines of inheritance, periods of exile, and separation trauma. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brothers fought within wombs for dominance. Birthrights were traded for bowls of soup. Children were conceived through subterfuge and seduction. Moshe was raised by Pharaoh's daughter. Hadassah married the King of Persia. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These sorts of plot twists repeat throughout our Tanakh. The themes reappear amongst the Nations in barely camouflaged folk tales such as Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, and Cinderella. The Roma fortune tellers developed Tarot Cards for the retelling and retooling of the Tanakh for those lacking a capacity for literacy. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps our historical obsession with assurances of ethnicity derives from the obvious lack of lineage purity. We are, after all, of many hues and physical types. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We mirror this concern with our dietary laws that obsess on separations. It is true that we refrain, for instance, from mixing milk and meat. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many of the meals that we perceive as Jewish food all seem to borrow heavily from the sorts of foods eaten by our Russian, Polish and Ukrainian Gentile neighbors. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We also tend to blend or mash our foods. Our kugel, gefilte fish, kneidelach, chopped liver, tzimmes and cholent all reflect our tendency to bring some order out of chaos, imitating, in a way, the act of Creation. Our foods are as mixed up as our bloodlines. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, wherever we migrated, we carried our burdens and contradictions with us. We carried Eretz Yisrael with us into exile. We returned from exile with the habits, values and customs of the Diaspora. This was our fate on Planet Earth. This is true on Planet Birobidzhan. This is true as we transit across galaxies. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Es tut mir layd. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCKCdF3Rev6e_-PZqboQSVFXeL9IYcAVPj_eyyGtd9WeaZoFV-qsYsc0iC48JyBDMp1nBsGA47xjOXz8958BxbzX9bVU-Nb_VwIvTBTo00KaAsEYtyDTg0Jd9wLhdNR1LKuVcpFHep5rnQxrD1EeKs7rDLJMyKjPBA4PKTwVZFDpBSpdMpfji_mKzTQ/s1049/FB_IMG_1668550332027.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1049" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCKCdF3Rev6e_-PZqboQSVFXeL9IYcAVPj_eyyGtd9WeaZoFV-qsYsc0iC48JyBDMp1nBsGA47xjOXz8958BxbzX9bVU-Nb_VwIvTBTo00KaAsEYtyDTg0Jd9wLhdNR1LKuVcpFHep5rnQxrD1EeKs7rDLJMyKjPBA4PKTwVZFDpBSpdMpfji_mKzTQ/s320/FB_IMG_1668550332027.jpg" width="220" /></a></div> Marc Chagall “Memory” 1914<p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> The Guggenheim Museum, NY</p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-26813902-7fff-fd41-a97b-830ec7560ec9" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">פּלאַנעט</span> <span style="font-size: large;">ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-6524d553-7fff-3c91-684f-4cbe97791051" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the posted installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-693accea-7fff-89cd-fb09-e4b191c35107" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-9293db2d-7fff-5939-6605-d83abe6edb02" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-2ed0b8d3-7fff-475f-8785-3495867de130" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-35028aee-7fff-132b-0885-a7eb13b83bac" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-772685fc-7fff-cf1a-bc4e-b124d2980a41" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-38bfd090-7fff-be72-5b75-d4fcf9322d30" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-3ddd04ac-7fff-c0dc-796f-c541e9b65d50" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-11821e99-7fff-400a-d680-7348c7fe7d8f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-40821954143203020322022-11-05T13:55:00.019-07:002023-01-25T00:34:19.973-08:00Tamar's Sketchbook <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOvH8azhnnsgwI9vzxqvE-0gopl5nDTEKMQU8aJFfbwkxTL8xTQiXjQiPQEjK-4UjOFDGPBaU36RtHr1nE1x8I1KOsV_5U1N5MTWwdOXU5wxPkj5y79_uQe7AvzJktDGjXI8VJ4WqU_0v5szxO4d8nHFLAhSiBw5U41HBTQVsiK-D75Q9elhjo_j6LGw/s780/221028102521-james-webb-space-telescope-pillars-of-creation-exlarge-169.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="780" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOvH8azhnnsgwI9vzxqvE-0gopl5nDTEKMQU8aJFfbwkxTL8xTQiXjQiPQEjK-4UjOFDGPBaU36RtHr1nE1x8I1KOsV_5U1N5MTWwdOXU5wxPkj5y79_uQe7AvzJktDGjXI8VJ4WqU_0v5szxO4d8nHFLAhSiBw5U41HBTQVsiK-D75Q9elhjo_j6LGw/s320/221028102521-james-webb-space-telescope-pillars-of-creation-exlarge-169.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-169e63f1-7fff-0736-33ca-36df9dcc8861" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Zvi Baranoff </span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-169e63f1-7fff-0736-33ca-36df9dcc8861" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Tamar's third birthday, it was obvious that she was her father's favorite. Dovid strived to treat all of his children the same but his particular affection for this little girl could not be denied. There was a brightness in her eyes that was unique and she seemed to be cut from a different cloth than the rest of the brood. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Try as he would, Dovid could not remember Tamar's birth. Her birthday was celebrated just before the beginning of Hanukkah. Dovid believed her to be Rifka Leeba's daughter because of the child's complexion and hair color, but he couldn't be certain. He had been traveling a lot during those years and some domestic matters were obfuscated as a result. He certainly would not ask. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once Tamar was fully weaned, she was by her father's side whenever it was possible. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar clearly loved her father. It wasn't just that he always had some fruit or nuts or candy in his pocket, although that was certainly a plus. She was particularly fond of delicacies made with dates, her namesake. These were also Dovid's favored snacks. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar was fascinated by everything her father did. She would watch him putter with tools and wiring. When the puttering resulted in lights or sounds, Tamar was thrilled. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It may not have been quite accurate to speak of this young girl as an apprentice. She was, however, at her father's side or in his wake whenever he was not at work or traveling. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar took an early interest in drawing. Her father had given her color pencils and a sketchbook for her birthday. She carried them everywhere in a small rucksack. Her drawings were pleasant, in a childish way and Dovid encouraged her in a doting manner. Tamar particularly enjoyed her doodling when they sat together in wild places where they would hike. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The two were on a long hike near the place where Dovid had first seen Rifka Leeba from afar. The youngster was not much older than five. They were walking side by side when Tamar turned to Dovid. "Do you hear, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tate</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">?" she blurted and just as suddenly began running ahead of her father. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Dovid caught up with Tamar, she was standing in a bloom of mushrooms. They had called out to her as they had done to her father when he was a boy. She was happily chewing on one mushroom and held out another in her hand extending it towards her father. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few minutes later, father and daughter were sitting quietly side by side, each absorbed in their personal mushroom induced trance-like state. Linear time for them faded away. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">After an undetermined number of hours, when Dovid again became aware of his surroundings, he saw that Tamar held her sketchbook in her lap. She was fervently drawing what appeared to be highly detailed technical plans surrounded by tightly scripted mathematical calculations and instructional notes. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Tamar finished, she closed her sketchbook and climbed into her father's lap. The two sat like that without speaking for a while. Tamar was the first to break the silence. "Tell me about my mother, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tate</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">," is what the girl said. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Rifka Leeba and Hannah Leah are your Mamas," Dovid replied. "What do you want to know?" </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar looked at her father with the utmost seriousness. "I know that," she said. "I do love them both dearly. But…" and she paused briefly before continuing. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Tell me about the woman that gave birth to me and then brought me to live in your house." Tamar opened her sketchbook as she said that and turned to a finely detailed drawing of a woman on a beach of pink sand, lying on a blanket, wearing nothing but henna and the sheerest of gauze. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, Dovid recognized the woman in the drawing. Before Dovid could formulate a response, Tamar rested her head on her father's shoulder and fell asleep.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">While Tamar slept, Dovid examined the technical drawings in her sketchbook. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the sketchbook, Dovid found detailed diagrams of the mushrooms. The next page consisted of instructions for harvesting and transplanting the fungi. The following pages were very exacting directions for building an enclosed mushroom growing environment. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next morning, construction of a mushroom growing facility began. Tamar took on a supervisory role, assuring that every detail of the plans were meticulously followed. Much to Dovid's relief, Tamar asked no more questions about the woman that she had drawn in her sketchbook. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hUGqf9MEqdktQIpd6bTL5SV_RpvYhLsfBfDaG8wINXkJUqa4SJbiLSEsRTOk4nZoD5SjxAb4lO9oDw3qTqesJyPqalxe1GzovCU2V_NRUiLMDWNb9IEGpejW9epeCHxcl4qEslXvWfHu_Fq8t4uI4nuZjsw0UxnI_84Fn2hWzt0dfxaV8KSKpVFCDg/s768/Southern-Ring-Nebulas-Spokes-Webb-NIRCam-and-MIRI-Composite-768x746.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="768" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hUGqf9MEqdktQIpd6bTL5SV_RpvYhLsfBfDaG8wINXkJUqa4SJbiLSEsRTOk4nZoD5SjxAb4lO9oDw3qTqesJyPqalxe1GzovCU2V_NRUiLMDWNb9IEGpejW9epeCHxcl4qEslXvWfHu_Fq8t4uI4nuZjsw0UxnI_84Fn2hWzt0dfxaV8KSKpVFCDg/s320/Southern-Ring-Nebulas-Spokes-Webb-NIRCam-and-MIRI-Composite-768x746.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-86dadcc8-7fff-9a25-b93b-870f87f80f95" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-1c3be46f-7fff-6360-b7f7-a8c5bd08ad2f" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">פּלאַנעט ביראָבידזשאַן</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-02d37e25-7fff-e183-1b48-3c4bf0fd8b1c" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the posted installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-9293db2d-7fff-5939-6605-d83abe6edb02" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-2ed0b8d3-7fff-475f-8785-3495867de130" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-35028aee-7fff-132b-0885-a7eb13b83bac" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-772685fc-7fff-cf1a-bc4e-b124d2980a41" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-38bfd090-7fff-be72-5b75-d4fcf9322d30" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-3ddd04ac-7fff-c0dc-796f-c541e9b65d50" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-11821e99-7fff-400a-d680-7348c7fe7d8f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-32082614583759442352022-10-13T17:30:00.030-07:002023-01-25T00:34:43.961-08:00A Dozen or So...<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG3SLHnIOFc57123f6-8xMOD94i86L3TnzoPOv2BcfvVqawt1xaALMNUv8HreCh3fokWdWfB8KpXqsPcu8QyEX8jWaOZWbTmzO9rRQYXbN-RzX67wxynd7DY7fTVtm3AVdzcUMm5Rs8IC2X57bl68jBFYCwpHAaX8p33dmE-Uopu3hcDGoJl-WicbW9Q/s275/images%20(2).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG3SLHnIOFc57123f6-8xMOD94i86L3TnzoPOv2BcfvVqawt1xaALMNUv8HreCh3fokWdWfB8KpXqsPcu8QyEX8jWaOZWbTmzO9rRQYXbN-RzX67wxynd7DY7fTVtm3AVdzcUMm5Rs8IC2X57bl68jBFYCwpHAaX8p33dmE-Uopu3hcDGoJl-WicbW9Q/s1600/images%20(2).jpeg" width="275" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-34fb4b98-7fff-0383-d6c3-0e7511aa2f37" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Zvi Baranoff </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The presence of young children assured spontaneity and a degree of chaos. The two young mothers somehow kept up with their ever increasing brood and brought warmth and comfort to Der Profesor's house.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The children called both Rifka Leeba and Hannah Leah "Mama" and would turn to whichever was closest for comforting or nutrition. Truthfully, none of the children knew which Mama had given birth to them. No outsider could unravel that mystery. The Mamas probably could remember, if pressed. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid certainly couldn't have kept that straight, if he would have been inclined to make the effort. Neither did he know, after a few years of marriage, exactly how many children there were. "A dozen or so…" is how he would usually answer, when asked. There always seemed to be one or more on the way, so to speak, some babies in diapers, and lots of little ones running about. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dovid was committing more and more time to his work and his involvement in the business brought big advances to his already very successful employer. A major innovation that Dovid brought to Moshe & Mendel's Jew Harp, Tsatske aun Muzik Krom, is the use of solar energy in toys and the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shpilplats </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(playground). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Small toy cars and trains gained increased mobility. Swings, slides and merry-go-rounds now have colorful lights and musical sound…and promote the stores. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, there was an alternative motive. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Space travel, Dovid knew, would require a massive amount of solar panels. Toys and the playground equipment could operate on chips and broken pieces of solar panels. If the chips and pieces were the product, the complete panels would become the byproduct, and the undamaged panels became available at a deep discount. Additionally, all of these purchases flowed through subsidiary associations that funneled money and resources into the space project. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The production of solar panels requires minerals mined from nearly inaccessible places on islands and other continents. Deals, side deals and back deals needed to be negotiated directly with far-flung mining guild members and boat captains. Dovid found himself often traveling globally. He would be away from home, sometimes, for several weeks at a stretch.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Returning from one such trip, Dovid arrived by ship at the Port of New New York shortly before Purim, where he was compelled to stay until after the holiday.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New New York is nearly tropical, with summer-like weather year round. Beaches with a fine rose-colored sand attract vacationers from across the continent and are enjoyed by the locals. The waters are calm and ideal for snorkeling. It is not so bad to be stuck in New New York if one needs to be stuck somewhere. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Jewish calendar is sprinkled with holidays calling for observance. Obligations, commandments and traditions dictate our practices on Holy Days. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most of these days are treated with a similar sanctity as Shabbos. Work, handling money, lighting fires and other such activities are proscribed or limited. Additionally, we are told that certain foods must be eaten and others are forbidden or how and where we must sit or items of clothing we must wear or that are forbidden. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Purim is probably the most uncharacteristic and even counterintuitive of all the Jewish holidays. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Purim, we are told that we must hear the Megillah Esther read, that we should give gifts of treats and that drinking to excess is considered a mitzvah. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Das iz alts. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What kind of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">meshugganah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> holiday is this?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most Jewish holidays have a Biblical origin, including Purim. The Megillah Esther is in our Holy Book and therefore considered a divine work. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Megillah, to a casual observer, may seem to be out of place, as Scripture. It may be imagined more readily as a novella and a work of Oriental fantasy than a religious tractate. A serious Biblical scholar recognizes the book to be full of perplexity and is likely to come to similar conclusions as those of a casual reader. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For one thing, the Megillah Esther is the only book within our Tanakh that doesn't mention the Ineffable One and there are no evidently miraculous occurrences or Divine Intervention. Not once. If you don't believe me, check for yourself. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The rest of our Scriptures are full of miracles. The miracles vary widely from the personal level such as Sarai's pregnancy at 90, the fantastic such as Jonah being swallowed by a whale and Balaam's talking donkey, regionally significant as the Plagues in Egypt must surely have been and of global proportions such as the Flood. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Megillah Esther is a story of backroom deals, subterfuge, palace politics, seduction, and intrigue. In many ways, it is a very foreign tale. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The story centers on values of a foreign kingdom. King Ahasuerus holds an extended celebration with heavy drinking. After a while, he calls for his wife, Queen Vasti, to entertain his drunken entourage. She refuses and is vilified on this account. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If this had been the story of a Jewish monarch, the Queen would have been the hero of the story for declining an unreasonable request. The King would apologize and make amends, hoping to win back the love and respect of his wife.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the perhaps fictionalized palace of the Persian Kingdom, a very different set of values is obvious.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The King does not react with remorse nor out of passion, jealousy or even anger. The King's concerns seem to be highly legalistic. He turns to the Royal Consultants for advice. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Royal Advisors fear the independent actions of a Queen could lead to the unraveling of patriarchy. They recommend the banishment of the Queen. They suggest that a more pliable replacement can be found through an audition of every virgin in the domain. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Through this process, by hiding her Jewish identity, Hadassah aka Esther married the King. A Chief Royal Advisor hatched a plot to destroy the Yidden. Esther steps in to influence her husband. So, in this way, the Megillah Esther essentially celebrates and encourages assimilation and marriage to foreigners. This stratagem results in a significant number of slaughtered hooligans at the hands of the Yidden and a massive conversion to Judaism. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Planet Earth, the celebration of Purim incorporated costumes and an oddly shaped pastry, the triangular hamantaschen. This pastry, it seems, is modeled after the style of hat worn by Napoleon and his troops. The traditional filling for the hamantaschen is </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">munn</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which is poppy seeds.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Planet Birobidzhan, the traditional gifting of hamantaschen and other sweets also includes the North African delicacy of majoun, a confection made from dates, nuts and hashish or cannabis butter. The prevalence of majoun is one of the reasons why the Hebraic name </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is associated with Purim on Planet Birobidzhan. The other reason, of course, has to do with the Biblical </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tamar's</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> costumed seduction of her father-in-law. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRqXWud5QvF0bbcA2lLn4URFRuUEvNsoYNk6nI9br0e8Wm2_Is7G5uQ7jjQkI_mVLWwF_9nyrKmYknUaaVsVsJRqJJ4csTpqtZuF1_IO8uU77MMl6mvuyLkLJ_cisrxzs1DuhPTbw2HmoFdD1GNaen92pp3QIflCgiDJPhRlIrOb-T4CIU2wuHzfejg/s841/judah_and_tamar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="841" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRqXWud5QvF0bbcA2lLn4URFRuUEvNsoYNk6nI9br0e8Wm2_Is7G5uQ7jjQkI_mVLWwF_9nyrKmYknUaaVsVsJRqJJ4csTpqtZuF1_IO8uU77MMl6mvuyLkLJ_cisrxzs1DuhPTbw2HmoFdD1GNaen92pp3QIflCgiDJPhRlIrOb-T4CIU2wuHzfejg/s320/judah_and_tamar.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Purim holiday on Earth fell in a rough conjunction with two rowdy holidays of the majority cultures. On the Indian subcontinent, amongst the Hindus there is Holi, celebrated with body painting and the consumption of cannabis infused drinks. In Brazil, Louisiana and some other Catholic influenced regions of Earth, Mardi Gras is celebrated with widespread drunkenness and a fair amount of public nudity. On Planet Earth, the Jewish People were a tiny minority, living alongside and often amongst other cultures.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Purim is a raucous celebration on Planet Birobidzhan, and particularly so in New New York. The celebration on Planet Birobidzhan was likely influenced by the way that Holi and Mardi Gras was celebrated on Planet Earth, even by many Yidden. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The festivities start out staid enough in the early evening with a family oriented costumed parade that weaves through the city, leading to the largest synagogues, where the Megillah Esther is read, according to tradition.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Following the Megillah reading, the crowds from the synagogues empty into the streets, led by the rabbis. Bottles of schnapps are passed around while singing and dancing take place. As the night progresses, parents with young children and those with less wild inclination clear the streets. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a tradition that on Purim one should drink until one doesn't know the difference between Haman and Mordechai, or, perhaps, you should drink until you can't tell the difference between Queen Vasti and Queen Esther. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Planet Birobidzhan, some wags suggest that at the proper level of intoxication for Purim, one cannot distinguish between one's wife and her sister. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Any other day or night, there is a decorum maintained throughout Planet Birobidzhan, with only a modicum of variations on the Kibbutzim. Women's knees are rarely seen on the streets of our cities, and never in our shtetls. Sleeves reach past the elbows and usually to the wrists. Blouses, outside of the house, are buttoned close to the neck. Married women cover their heads with scarves. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Purim, masks are worn by nearly everyone. With the anonymity of masking, inhibitions are often set aside. With faces veiled, the dress norms are also set aside. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Planet Birobidzhan, it is generally quite warm for Purim. In tropical New New York the weather can be outright sultry. Some will, as the night unfolds, be wearing little more than a mask, gauze and perhaps makeup, henna or body paint. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No one should be particularly surprised that a fair number of pregnancies are consummated on the night of the Purim celebration. This is a factor in the large number of hastily arranged marriages that take place around Pesach and the volume of birthing around Hanukkah. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Planet Birobidzhan, it is not particularly unusual for a first child to be born around seven months after a couple stands under the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chuppah</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The husband will choose to believe that the child born is his offspring. Most of the rest of the year, that is likely true. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For a married woman, a Purim <span id="docs-internal-guid-e5ffafd8-7fff-9715-005a-59b04b485b28" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">dalliance</span> has little consequence. When an unmarried woman becomes pregnant, a hastily arranged marriage is for the best, and the social ripples of a Purim dalliance is minimal. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If a wedding doesn't take place by sometime around Pesach, however, the young woman begins to swell around the abdomen and neighbors begin to gossip, particularly in the smaller shtetls. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The options for an unmarried pregnant woman in a small shtetl are extremely narrow. Many </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Purim Meydls </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">leave their homes behind and head to the larger settlements or the cities for some degree of anonymity. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was early in the winter, not long past Hanukkah. The children had all gone to the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">spielplat </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with Hannah Leah. Rifka Leeba was drinking a glass of tea, enjoying the rare moments of privacy and solitude when there was a knock on the door. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the door stood a young woman, evidently from a small shtetl. In her arms was a newborn baby girl. Rifka Leeba knew at once that this was a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Purim Meydl</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on her doorstep. One look at the baby and Rifka Leeba knew that the child was fathered by Dovid. The little girl looked very much like Dovid's mother. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In an instant, Rifka Leeba imagined how her mother-in-law would have reacted to such a circumstance. She was determined to resolve this situation in the same calculating way as she believed that Dovid's mother would. Rifka Leeba's face became an emotional vail as she ushered the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Purim Meydl </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">into her living room and offered her tea. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rifka Leeba served tea shtetl style, in a glass, with sugar cubes. She offered the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Purim Meydl </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cookies from the bakery on the dishes reserved for company and holidays. She lulled the young woman into a false sense of security. The newborn slept peacefully, swaddled on the sofa, unaware that she was the center of intrigue and her life was on the cusp of a tidal change. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rifka Leeba did not speak of her husband and paid no attention to the sleeping child. She took even breaths as she spoke in abstractions about vulgarity, sin and bad choices. She spoke about bordellos and whoring and wantonness. She made disparaging implications of the sort of background and family that would lead to a woman bearing a child out of wedlock. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rifka Leeba dug deep and found a reserve of strength and cruelty that she didn't know she had. She carefully chose each word to inflict pain and suffering, without actually speaking directly to the situation at hand. The younger woman, hardly more than a girl, lacked the stamina or capacity to withstand the calculated emotional barrage. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Purim Meydl</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> went to the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vashzimmer</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to compose herself. Rifka Leeba removed a bur that had attached itself to her shoe. She placed the sharp thing into the fold of the innocently sleeping sweet child's diaper. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The baby girl instantly began to cry. The infant's mother came quickly to the newborn and frantically tried soothing her to no avail. Rifka Leeba looked on with the appearance of sympathy. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The young stranger tried rocking the baby, offered her a breast, uttered soothing words, and all the other sorts of things that mothers everywhere do for their offspring. The baby's crying got louder and the young woman grew more frantically agitated. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rifka Leeba, after a time, stepped in and calmly reached out for the newborn. The </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Purim Meydl</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, in a state of desperation, placed the screaming baby girl into Rifka Leeba's hands. Rifka Leeba subtly removed the bur as she eased the infant onto her own breast. The baby immediately stopped crying and happily suckled. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Within the hour, the Purim Meydl departed with banknotes from Rifka Leeba's </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">knipple </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">securely folded into the lining of her coat. The baby remained with Rifka Leeba. When Hannah Leah and the brood of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kinder </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">returned from</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">spielplat, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">there was one more addition to the family. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hannah Leah raised an eyebrow, but asked no questions except for the child's name. Rifka Leeba, sitting with the child cuddling in her arms, shrugged. "Let's call her Tamar," she said and this was how the girl was brought into the family and named. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDgtP0NoSjsMfPG0xT10jzNOIN06Ji-_Iw3xRdiCN_z7UrdjFvsWP8bbV8oIwiA90z7vl-AstiKp0tDzHtP_YehFbyXuE5WLFZkM9ywuJ_wbPsphYPdetEJ7PkW_70cY-sc0Do0AIXwJGlYDUrLkJlPRhxa5c_w3Ijq0rPlVQzzsZ0jl-QJBVMuL_6ig/s1307/hubble-images-unusual.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1307" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDgtP0NoSjsMfPG0xT10jzNOIN06Ji-_Iw3xRdiCN_z7UrdjFvsWP8bbV8oIwiA90z7vl-AstiKp0tDzHtP_YehFbyXuE5WLFZkM9ywuJ_wbPsphYPdetEJ7PkW_70cY-sc0Do0AIXwJGlYDUrLkJlPRhxa5c_w3Ijq0rPlVQzzsZ0jl-QJBVMuL_6ig/s320/hubble-images-unusual.jpg" width="313" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-86dadcc8-7fff-9a25-b93b-870f87f80f95" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not a Jewish story. It is, however, a story about Jews. One does not need to be Jewish to read this tale any more than one needs to be a Hobbit or an Elf to read Lord of the Rings. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story is a work of fiction. The setting for this tale is in the distant future, on the far away Planet Birobidzhan. This planet was settled by Jewish exiles from Planet Earth. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The population of Planet Birobidzhan has been cut off from the Home Planet for a long time. They have developed their own unique culture, traditions and linguistics. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The language spoken on Planet Birobidzhan is primarily Yiddish. I have sprinkled a significant number of Yiddish words and phrases throughout the telling of the tale. I also refer to various Jewish religious and cultural touchstones. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To make this story more accessible, I have included a glossary of words and phrases in Yiddish and Hebrew that are used as well as some explanations of religious terms and holidays. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that readers find this to be useful.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The link to the Glossary is here:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-useful-guide-glossary-to-planet.html?m=1</span></a></p><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">פּלאַנעט</span> <span style="font-size: large;">ביראָבידזשאַן</span></div></span><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-85e295eb-7fff-1b04-c91b-181339791529" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-85e295eb-7fff-1b04-c91b-181339791529" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you want to read more about Planet Birobidzhan? Here are all the posted installments so far, in the order that they were posted. Just click your way through the story!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 On A Planet Safe for Yidden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/on-planet-safe-for-yidden.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Yenne Velt: A History of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/yenne-velt-history-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 Another Globe, Perhaps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/02/another-globe-perhaps.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 Bereshis: The Transport & Transformation of the Founders</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/bereshis-transport-transformation-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 The Town of First Landing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-town-of-first-landing.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 A Personal History of an Early Settler on Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-personal-history-of-early-settler-on.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 Chickens, Jews Harps & Cronyism</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/cronyism.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 Dovid's Neshumeh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/dovids-neshumeh.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 The Octogenarian and the Youngster</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-octogenarian-and-youngster.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 An Otherworldly Havdalah</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-otherworldly-havdalah.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 The Courtship & Marriage of Bathseba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-courtship-marriage-of-bathseba.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 A Job, an Apartment & Two Honeymoons</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-job-apartment-two-honeymoons.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13 The Pathway Into the Stars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pathway-into-stars.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 Abi Guzunt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/08/abi-guzunt.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 A Dozen or So…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-dozen-or-so.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16 Tamar's Sketchbook </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-sketchbook.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17 An Apologetic Interlude in the Galactic Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-apologetic-interlude-in-galactic-tale.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18 Tamar's Mushrooms </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/11/tamars-mushrooms.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 Intergalactic Travel Can Not Be Done on the Cheap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/intergalactic-travel-can-not-be-done-on.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-693accea-7fff-89cd-fb09-e4b191c35107" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Unauthorized Fire on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/unauthorized-fire-on-planet-birobidzhan.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-9293db2d-7fff-5939-6605-d83abe6edb02" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 Tamar and the Klezmorim of Planet Birobidzhan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/tamar-and-klezmorim-of-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-2ed0b8d3-7fff-475f-8785-3495867de130" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22 Heresy, Flimflam and Death </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2022/12/heresy-flimflam-and-death.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-35028aee-7fff-132b-0885-a7eb13b83bac" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23 On a Distant Planet, An Apartment in the City by the Sea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/on-distant-planet-apartment-in-city-by.html?m=1</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-772685fc-7fff-cf1a-bc4e-b124d2980a41" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24 The Girl with a Fiddle on Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-girl-with-fiddle-on-planet.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-38bfd090-7fff-be72-5b75-d4fcf9322d30" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">25 Tamar and the Scholars of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/tamar-and-scholars-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-3ddd04ac-7fff-c0dc-796f-c541e9b65d50" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">26 The Tropics of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-tropics-of-planet-birobidzhan.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-11821e99-7fff-400a-d680-7348c7fe7d8f" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27 The Beaches and Coastal Shtetls of Planet Birobidzhan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-beaches-and-coastal-shtetls-of.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7b6f5159-7fff-a7de-9085-0afd16061fa4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">28 A Pre-launch Reunion</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-pre-launch-reunion.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-7ddf34e4-7fff-bb14-7d3f-55c47c7a8460" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">29 The Launch Was Imminent</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-launch-was-imminent.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76eb7862-7fff-7972-dbb9-ad9cc6eb0cc2" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30 Liftoff Into the Unknown </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/liftoff-into-unknown.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-4fe76404-7fff-ea11-2499-bcb1530de8bf" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">31 Across the Void, Down a Wormhole & Into the Snow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/across-void-down-wormhole-into-snow.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b5ebb2a0-7fff-0fbf-273b-74aadedcc7d4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">32 Flourishing on Planet Shney </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><a href="https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://21stcenturybogatyr.blogspot.com/2023/01/flourishing-on-planet-shney.html</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148865711603519127.post-75350339232028371982022-09-23T14:06:00.000-07:002022-09-23T14:06:05.852-07:00The Rabbi's Hat<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQO6_RGgjK8Ifvqn2PXdujFioil5tpMChBB6F9RxFZsrQdEDrbU71t6tzVUpeyjMHB-KuNTSHt3to1RqicyBqUHOoZzMEJ1NIiHM_DK0WmjSHWppehQlW55INAYkxI57bPrdf4bCe6PvEaN-VtiksQYdO9pSpyFh0_gMIWQMK6fgvSn4IIbzkc67uMg/s450/FB_IMG_1663966926088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="450" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQO6_RGgjK8Ifvqn2PXdujFioil5tpMChBB6F9RxFZsrQdEDrbU71t6tzVUpeyjMHB-KuNTSHt3to1RqicyBqUHOoZzMEJ1NIiHM_DK0WmjSHWppehQlW55INAYkxI57bPrdf4bCe6PvEaN-VtiksQYdO9pSpyFh0_gMIWQMK6fgvSn4IIbzkc67uMg/s320/FB_IMG_1663966926088.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-539bf371-7fff-63a4-7001-1796cf6b15a4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A young Irish fellow went into a neighborhood bar. He counted out enough change for a beer. While drinking the beer he began telling the bartender about how his day went. </span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Earlier in the day, he was standing on the corner and he saw an old rabbi walking down the street.</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a breezy day and a gust of wind blew the rabbi's hat off his head. He chased after it, but the wind kept blowing and the old man couldn't catch up with his hat.</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The young fellow saw this happening and being a good hearted fellow, he ran after the hat and returned it to the rabbi. The rabbi thanked the young Irishman, blessed him and gave him a twenty dollar tip.</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The young man took his twenty dollars to the horse track. When he got there, he placed a $20 bet on a long shot named Top Hat and the horse won, paying off 50-1.</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The young man took his winnings, and placed it all on a horse named Stetson, another long shot. Stetson won as well, paying off 75-1.</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The bartender was impressed. He asked the young man what happened to all the money.</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I was feeling particularly lucky. I placed a third bet."</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I saw a horse in the third race named Château. Knowing that is French for some sort of fancy hat, and that all my luck today had to do with hats, I bet all of the money on that nag, but it came in last."</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The bartender shook his head, but didn't correct the young man. He did, however, ask him which horse won.</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0.0pt; margin-top: 0.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"At 100-1 a Japanese horse named Yarmulke," said the young man as he finished his beer.</span></p><p><br /><br /></p>21st Century Bogatyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15446350871863518052noreply@blogger.com0