(Sept. 29, 2011) Last Friday, believe it or not, was the first day of autumn, despite the hot, muggy weather then. And today is Rosh Hashanah, literally "head of the year," the Jewish New Year.
The first of the high holy days, Rosh Hashanah is observed and celebrated on the first two days of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar (nine and eight days before Yom Kippur). It is described in the Torah as a day of sounding the shofar (ram's horn). Jews mark the days with symbolic foods and temple services including New Year's resolutions.
Check out this new season in Recorder Community Newspapers and their 60+ blogs online right here at newjerseyhills.com. Any individual or group representative who would like to join our bloggers may e-mail me at panderson@recordernewspapers.com to find out about this simple, free, 21st century communication tool. Young people, high school age and older, are especially welcome. All you need is an e-mail and Internet connection device.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Summer's over
(September 19, 2011) Well, the furnace is on since summer seems to be over, even though the calendar says it isn't. The cold temperatures are sending the squirrels scurrying to collect nuts for the coming winter and the deer are devouring any plants they see to bulk up for the bare season ahead.
Meantime, Jack and I are layering on the sweatshirts and sweaters. I have to replace summer quilts with warmer comforters on the beds. It's also time to cook up homemade soup, maybe hearty ham barley or beef vegetable.
In any case, it's still time for blogging, especially since autumn weather brings so many great activities, from apple picking to hay rides to harvest festivals. Check out Recorder Community Newspapers for details in the news and the blogs right here online at newjerseyhills.com.
Any individual or organization representative interested in joining the 60+ bloggers here is invited to call me at (908) 832-7420 or e-mail panderson@recordernewspapers.com to find out more about this simple, free communication tool. Young people especially are welcome since they are the most facile with today's electronic technology.
Meantime, Jack and I are layering on the sweatshirts and sweaters. I have to replace summer quilts with warmer comforters on the beds. It's also time to cook up homemade soup, maybe hearty ham barley or beef vegetable.
In any case, it's still time for blogging, especially since autumn weather brings so many great activities, from apple picking to hay rides to harvest festivals. Check out Recorder Community Newspapers for details in the news and the blogs right here online at newjerseyhills.com.
Any individual or organization representative interested in joining the 60+ bloggers here is invited to call me at (908) 832-7420 or e-mail panderson@recordernewspapers.com to find out more about this simple, free communication tool. Young people especially are welcome since they are the most facile with today's electronic technology.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Where was God on 9/11/01?
(September 11, 2011) I just got back from a very moving 10th anniversary commemoration of 9/11. One speaker addressed the question: Where was God on 9/11, the beautiful Tuesday morning in 2001 when some 3,000 people were killed on American soil as a result of crashes caused by Islamist terrorists who had commandeered four commercial passenger jetliners. Two slammed into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., and another into a field in central Pennsylvania. His answer follows.
God was with those who comforted their colleagues as they faced certain death trapped on the upper floors of the World Trade Center above where the terrorists' intentionally crashed American Airlines planes into Towers 1 and 2.
God was with area first-responders, firemen, police, EMTs and security personnel, who raced into the burning towers to lead people there to safety, then dying when the two buildings collapsed in less than two hours.
God was with a slight Oriental man who carried a crippled woman he did not know on his back down many flights of stairs escaping from the smoke and devastation in Tower 2.
God was aboard United Flight 93 on its way from Newark to California when the 40 passengers and crew voted to take down their plane over Pennsylvania with its hijackers to prevent an attack on the nation's capital. They all perished deep in a remote field in Shanksville, population 245.
God was in Canada's Gander, Newfoundland, whose residents welcomed into their homes and facilities hundreds of travelers, dubbed "the plane people," diverted there on planes when U.S. air space was closed because of the attacks. Some of the friendships formed at that time remain to this day.
God was at St. Paul's Chapel, located across from the lower Manhattan site of the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers yet spared for a higher purpose. Opened in 1766, it is Manhattan's oldest public building in continuous use -- a place where George Washington worshiped and 9/11 recovery workers received round-the-clock care. One old woman came there and left her cane for anyone who needed it.
God was with those who came for weeks afterward to search for human remains at the demolished World Trade Center without concern for their own well-being.
Something to think about.
Would you like to communicate your thoughts about 9/11 or other current events? Recorder Community Newspapers hosts some 60 blogs here at its website for community individuals and organization leaders to share their comments and news. Anyone interested in this free service is invited to contact me at (908) 832-7420 or panderson@recordernewspapers.com and I will give you the details. All you need is an Internet connection device and an e-mail.
God was with those who comforted their colleagues as they faced certain death trapped on the upper floors of the World Trade Center above where the terrorists' intentionally crashed American Airlines planes into Towers 1 and 2.
God was with area first-responders, firemen, police, EMTs and security personnel, who raced into the burning towers to lead people there to safety, then dying when the two buildings collapsed in less than two hours.
God was with a slight Oriental man who carried a crippled woman he did not know on his back down many flights of stairs escaping from the smoke and devastation in Tower 2.
God was aboard United Flight 93 on its way from Newark to California when the 40 passengers and crew voted to take down their plane over Pennsylvania with its hijackers to prevent an attack on the nation's capital. They all perished deep in a remote field in Shanksville, population 245.
God was in Canada's Gander, Newfoundland, whose residents welcomed into their homes and facilities hundreds of travelers, dubbed "the plane people," diverted there on planes when U.S. air space was closed because of the attacks. Some of the friendships formed at that time remain to this day.
God was at St. Paul's Chapel, located across from the lower Manhattan site of the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers yet spared for a higher purpose. Opened in 1766, it is Manhattan's oldest public building in continuous use -- a place where George Washington worshiped and 9/11 recovery workers received round-the-clock care. One old woman came there and left her cane for anyone who needed it.
God was with those who came for weeks afterward to search for human remains at the demolished World Trade Center without concern for their own well-being.
Something to think about.
Would you like to communicate your thoughts about 9/11 or other current events? Recorder Community Newspapers hosts some 60 blogs here at its website for community individuals and organization leaders to share their comments and news. Anyone interested in this free service is invited to contact me at (908) 832-7420 or panderson@recordernewspapers.com and I will give you the details. All you need is an Internet connection device and an e-mail.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
9-10-11
(September 10, 2011) Today is another fun mathematical date to remember: 9-10-11. Happy memories for those born today or celebrating a special milestone in their lives! It will be an easy date to remember.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Labor Day
(September 5, 2011) Today, the first Monday in September, is Labor Day, a national holiday honoring all workers. Americans traditionally consider it the last hurrah of summer and celebrate with picnics and other gatherings with family and friends.
The first Labor Day in the United States was observed on Sept. 5, 1882, by the Central Labor Union (CLU) of New York. It was proposed by Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor in May 1882.
Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday in 1887. By the time it became a federal holiday in 1894, 30 states officially celebrated Labor Day.
Following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. marshals at Chicago's Haymarket Square during the Pullman Strike in 1894, President Grover Cleveland reconciled with the labor movement.
The Pullman Strike was a nationwide conflict between labor unions and railroads. The conflict began in the town of Pullman, Ill., on May 11 when about 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Co. began a wildcat strike in response to recent reductions in wages, bringing traffic west of Chicago to a halt.
The American Railway Union, the nation's first industry-wide union, led by Eugene V. Debs, subsequently became embroiled in what The New York Times described as "a struggle between the greatest and most important labor organization and the entire railroad capital" that, at its peak, involved some 250,000 workers in 27 states.
Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress, passed unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.
The September date originally chosen by the CLU of New York and observed by many of the nation's trade unions for the past several years was selected rather than the more widespread International Workers' Day (International Workers' Day, May 1, also known as May Day, is a celebration of the international labor movement. It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labor unions throughout most of the world. It is a national holiday in more than 80 countries.) because Cleveland was concerned that observance of the latter would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket affair, which it had been observed to commemorate.
All U.S. states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories have made the first Monday of September, Labor Day, a statutory holiday.
The first Labor Day in the United States was observed on Sept. 5, 1882, by the Central Labor Union (CLU) of New York. It was proposed by Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor in May 1882.
Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday in 1887. By the time it became a federal holiday in 1894, 30 states officially celebrated Labor Day.
Following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. marshals at Chicago's Haymarket Square during the Pullman Strike in 1894, President Grover Cleveland reconciled with the labor movement.
The Pullman Strike was a nationwide conflict between labor unions and railroads. The conflict began in the town of Pullman, Ill., on May 11 when about 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Co. began a wildcat strike in response to recent reductions in wages, bringing traffic west of Chicago to a halt.
The American Railway Union, the nation's first industry-wide union, led by Eugene V. Debs, subsequently became embroiled in what The New York Times described as "a struggle between the greatest and most important labor organization and the entire railroad capital" that, at its peak, involved some 250,000 workers in 27 states.
Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress, passed unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.
The September date originally chosen by the CLU of New York and observed by many of the nation's trade unions for the past several years was selected rather than the more widespread International Workers' Day (International Workers' Day, May 1, also known as May Day, is a celebration of the international labor movement. It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labor unions throughout most of the world. It is a national holiday in more than 80 countries.) because Cleveland was concerned that observance of the latter would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket affair, which it had been observed to commemorate.
All U.S. states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories have made the first Monday of September, Labor Day, a statutory holiday.
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