For Chanukah I bought my brother Chaim the Album Orange Days as I knew he had wanted that album ever since that traumatic summer of 2005 made him reasses his own political views, his own conservatism and his views on how Hashem operates. And just as I was looking for some articles on the support [...]

…well, not in Bethlehem, but in Jerusalem, where my cousin Anna (Yael) and her husband Gábor (Yosef) Bálint welcomed a baby boy on 25 December 2007 at 2:17 am. He is 20.5 inches long and 6 and a half lbs. His Apgars were 9/10.
Now they only need to resist the temptation to name him [...]

No, no it is not whether deaf babies should be implanted (I keep saying leave that up to the parents, and if they are implanted, make sure they are still exposed to sign language/deaf community so they have a choice when all grown).
It is whether the Halacha allows use of the CI on the Shabbat. [...]

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Stupid stupid family drama at the O. family. Of course it has to involve me. The O’s (in this case) are my adoptive father’s family.
Since the extended family is unmanagably huge, the grandkids’ families each get two other families assigned to buy gifts for one another. Usually these gifts are exchanged at the Boxing Day [...]

 You know you’re Jewish when…
your Bat Mitzvah costs more than your college tuition.
(and it’s not seen as an expenditure, rather an investment in your future)
you forget the top ten list you’re making because you’re busy eating.
you know the meaning of the word “jap” has nothing to do with japanese people.
when you go to Hillel for [...]

This question is the result of a longish chat with a friend. We were discussing the upcoming holiday, also known as Christmas. She is inthe [...]

It was a lovely Shabbat today! (Well, lovely if you don’t count the e-mail bombing by my adoptive family–can’t believe what lengths she is willing to go to get some € from me! She got the boys to sign up to gmail so there’s an address that isn’t blocked!)
It finally started to get into decent [...]

The Hungarians got that right, “Pleasant Holidays” is the usual greeting around this time of the year: a way to wish you a “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” with fewer syllables. No one gets offended by that. If you want to, you can interpret it to mean “Happy Chanukah and a Happy New [...]

So it is indeed idiopathic autoimmune hemolytic anemia, which is treatable and most likely cureable. In some cases it might go away on its own, but since my labs show worsening RBC counts, prednisone should help it.
My haematologist is quitting. he is opening a wellness hotel with his BIL. I will miss him.
Efrayim cooked today. [...]