Monday, May 30, 2005

CAUTION! LAND MINE FIELD! HYPERNETO, RASCO

B"H

I filed a COMPLAINT today against the HYPERNETO in the Rasco shopping center in Tzfat. I told them the last time that they cheated me that the next time it happened I would complain and make the matter as widely and publicly known as possible, and so today I am doing so.

This is the gist of my complaint:

"COMPLAINT Against HYPERNETO, Rasco Shopping Center, Tzfat

I shop in the HYPERNETO in the Rasco shopping center in the Southern part of Tzfat. Shady business practices there are de rigueur:

These practices include, but are not limited to:

a) Advertising sales on items in the stores that are not to be found in the stores during the time period that the ad indicates.

b) Often an item is tagged as being on sale. Another, similar item is placed above the tag that shows the sale, but it is not the item on sale. It may be a very subtle difference, like large peas being on sale, and cans of medium size peas of the same brand are put above the tag. Or medium peas are marked at a reduced price if you buy 2 or 3 cans, and they intersperse those medium size peas with cans of large and small, such that the chances of picking up the right size cans is greatly reduced.

c) The actual item that is on sale may be half way down the isle. Sometimes, as I indicated in item "a" above, it is not present at all.

d) Often the price on the item is not the price I am charged. Of course I am always charged more than the price that appears on the item. When I bring this to the managers' attention they tell me that they do not have time to change the price on every item in the store.

e) Often when something is marked on sale and it is the item that is marked on sale the cash register registers the whole price.

f) Often if something is marked two items for the price of one, the cash register doesn't register the deal."

I sent the above complaint to The CONSUMER PROTECTION OFFICE in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the address of which is: 30 Agron Road, Yerushalayim 94190.


I tried to send the Complaint via e-mail as listed on their site, but it came back to me indicated undeliverable three times. So, I suggest that if you wish to lodge a Complaint against any business that you send it in physical form to the address above.

and to:

FAULTY PRODUCTS - The Israeli Consumer Council Complaints Division, which deals with matters regarding not displaying correct prices, misleading advertising, and faulty products. Contact the Consumer Council by Fax: 03-560-0180 and/or by mail: 76 MaZA"H Street, Tel Aviv 65789.

I urge anyone who is being cheated by supermarkets to complain to The Israeli Consumer Council at the address or fax provided just above this paragraph and to the Consumer Protection Office, whose e-mail is found on the site provided above.

Although big businesses don't like complaints, they are far more sensitive to the threat of losing business in mass. So, voting with your feet is really the way to go.

My experience has been that most of the outrageous advantage is being taken by the large supermarket chains. The "Mom and Pop" operations seem to be more honest. So, patronize Mom and Pop.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat

Sunday, May 29, 2005

QAZRIN – A Wonderful Place to Visit (And I Bet To Live Too)

We recently returned from an overnight stay in Qazrin. We fell in love with the town.

There are sites on the net that will give you an idea of what Qazrin has to offer. I'll list the sites here in order to save you the time of doing a redundant search:

http://www.golan.org.il/park/evisit.htm

http://www.qatzrin.muni.il/ts.exe?tsurl=0.76.0.0.0&tsstmplt=zoom

http://museum.golan.org.il/

http://museum.golan.org.il/epre.htm

http://www.qatzrin.muni.il/

Having arrived in Qazrin around noon we hurried over to the Museum on the first day. The rest of our day was spent meeting people and getting to know modern, thriving Qazrin. Qazrin is not just about an ancient settlement, interesting though that may be. Modern Qazrin is about Zionism and chalutziut at its very best. A lot of love, effort and funds were invested to make modern Qazrin a model Israeli town and it is well worth taking the time to drink all that it.

The second day we were there was dedicated to the other side of town, where the antiquities are.

I am always amazed to see modern malls next to archeological reconstructions. Qazrin has wisely placed its mall next to its hottest tourist attractions.

A Visitors' Center is presently being built right next to the mall as well.

There are a number of fast food places in the Chutzot HaGolan Mall, the mall that is near the antiquities. One of the places is Henry's, a French crepes bar that is a bit more up-scale than the other eating places in the mall. Henry's honors Gold Dinner cards. There is also a Burger Ranch in Chutzot HaGolan, A quick Chinese food place, Pizza and Shwarma.

I could not find any bed and breakfasts listed in Qazrin on the net when I was planning the trip. So, I called the Head Secretary of the Mo'etzah Mekomit, a lovely lady by the name of Ya'el, and asked with whom we might stay. She recommended a neighbor of hers by the name of Ge'ulah Arad (spelled with an aleph).

I called Ge'ulah and asked if we might stay in a room at her place. She said: "A room? You can stay in my villa." I asked how much that would cost. I was stunned that the price she asked was less than we might expect to stay in a room. Ge'ulah adjusts the prices according to how many people stay overnight. Ask her directly to quote her rates.

Ge'ulah, it transpired, is a craftswoman and her lovely villa, situated in a beautiful and verdant neighborhood, is decorated with much of her own handiwork.

There is a lovingly cared for garden in front of the house and a backyard with a table and chairs. The spacious salon leads into the kitchen, which is not kosher. That is no problem as there is a makolet very near Ge'ulah's house. The rates that Ge'ulah charges to stay at her villa make having to buy breakfast well worth while.

The bedrooms are up winding stairs.

There is a Beit K'nesset less than a five-minute walk from Ge'ulah's home. My husband, Dani'el, told me the Beit K'nesset is large and well-appointed and some 40 – 50 people showed up for the minyan on a weekday.

Ge'ulah's home is minutes away from the Shuq (every Tuesday) and a short walk from the field school.

All in all I would recommend staying at Gu'elah Arad's lovely villa highly.

Her phone number is (04) 696-1517.
Her cell phone number is 050 – 7324565

Tell her that Doreen and Dani'el Dotan from Tzfat recommended her place to you.



Friday, February 25, 2005

B"H

The message Jack wrote about Jane Fonda on the Yahoo! e-group "Galil Notice Board" has nothing to do with the Galil. But, heck, when did a rabble rouser ever consider propriety, time, place and appropriateness when rousing rabble? My response below does relate to the Galil directly.

I have read this too too emotionally stirring account to be entirely true entirely too many times. The emotional shock has long since worn off. Ultra right-wing, neo-Con, religious fanatics in the US post this all over the board to arouse the emotions they want to be aroused and they succeed to a large extent. They don't know when to stop, though, and they keep dragging out this same dog-eared "account" again and again. Yawn.

I have yet to see Ms. Fonda's response to this story. Somehow her version and/or response never appears together with this "account" when it is posted.

Here in Israel a parallel ultra right-wing, neo-Con, religious fanatic movement is growing to match that of the Christians in the States and the fanatic Muslims. Due to the actions of one of these people there are now operatives of the Shaba"k checking out Messianic movements in my home town of Tzfat. How sad this makes me. It gives me the creeps to think both that there may be really dangerous elements here in Tzfat, people who take out their impotent rage and emotional disturbance on politicians' cars) and that there is a need on the part of the Shaba"k to keep a presence here and monitor their activities.

We are being unindated with emotionally charged *propaganda*. I urge everyone to keep their emotions under control when they read posts that are obviously crafted to blast them out of their seats and do the homework to determine whether it is true or not, and to what extent.

There is a very takhlis negative outcome to Tzfat, all of Tzfat, as a result of the action of one of the ultra-right, neo-Con, stoned on chazarah b'teshuvah characters that populate Tzfat, the one who attacked Bibi's car and abused him verbally. Politicians have been warned by their advisors to stay away from Tzfat because they may be in danger here. When Yishai Maimon became Mayor we lost our direct line to the offices of Likud MKs. We lost untold revenues because there is no Mafda"l power base in the Knesset and the Likud had no particular sentiments for Maimon. Now the precious little funding that he was able to get might be lost because the MKs who came here no longer will.


Shabbat Shalom U'Mevurakh,
Doreen Ellen-Bell, Tzfat, Israel

Monday, December 20, 2004

New Tzfat Yahoo! Group

B"H

Just see for yourself what kind of a community Tzfat is:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tzfat/

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat

Violence and Drugs in the Yeshivot for Chozrim B'Tshuvah

B"H

There have been entirely too many incidents of extreme violence and drug use in yeshivot for "chozrim b'tzhuvah" in Tzfat.

A recent story shocked me to the core. A 17-year-old boy learning in one of these yeshivot was attached by a mature man, also learning there. While asleep the the older man attacked the boy, bashing his head a number of times with a large rock.

Just two or three weeks before that an arguement turned into a knife fight in the same institute of "higher moral/spiritual learning".

"Chozrim b'tshuvah", alek.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat

Monday, September 13, 2004

They're Leaving In Droves

B"H

I took a look at the real estate ads in the כ"ג באלול תשס"ד (September 9, 2004) edition of בשבע, the newspaper with the largest religious readership.

I was curious as to how many people are leaving Tzfat vis-a-vis other cities in Israel.

The following is the number of houses being sold in cities and major towns in Israel, in comparison to the number of houses being sold in Tzfat, a town of about 25, 000 residents, smaller by far than any of the other towns listed:

Netanya: 2

Jerusalem and the Environs: 10

Ra'anana: 1

Be'er Sheva: 2

Chaifa: 2

Tzfat: 8

The pattern follows for all of the other cities and town in which homes are being sold.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel


HIGHEST RATE OF SUICIDE ATTEMPTS IN ISRAEL IN TZFAT

B"H

As of the writing of this entry this article is not yet on their site www.gnews.co.il.

In the כ"ד אלול תשס"ד, September 10, 2004 (10.09.04) edition of חדש בגליל there is an article entitled צפת נחשבת כעיר בעלת מספר ניסיונות ההתאבדות הגבוה ביותר (TAZFAT IS CONSIDERED THE CITY WITH THE HIGHEST RATE OF SUICIDE ATTEMPS).

MOST INFURIATING: According to the article it was international suicide prevention week just recently. The article says that Tzfat didn't partake in any suicide prevention programs or lecturing that week. I can vouch for that. The first time I heard about suicide prevention week was from the above-referenced article, after the fact. Why didn't the journalists do a write up before hand, thus forcing the hand of the city to do something, by alerting the public that international suicide prevention week was in the offing?

How, how!, I ask you how! does that gadfly Doreen Dotan have the temerity to write that anything is wrong in the city of Tzfat?!

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat :0(

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

The Owner of www.safed.co.il Thinks The Public Is Stupid

BS"D

While it is necessary to moderate the forum of www.safed.co.il in order to keep hate posts and vile posts off it, does the owner of this site, Roni Yeshurun, really think that by deleting posts that critique Tzfat that people will think that everything is alright here?

He is concerned about his bed and breakfast business. He thinks he can paint a perfect picture of Tzfat and people will come in droves believing it.

An important post concerning the "Clalit" Health Fund was deleted from the forum on the Tzfat site. That post could have saved many people from being harmed. But the owner of the site is concerned about his business alone. So, it was deleted.

I was not banned from that forum because my posts were vile, hate-filled ranting, as are "carin's". The owner of this site contacted Doreen offline and told her in e-mails that he considers her a brilliant researcher, but must ban her because of the reactions to her intelligent posts. He also did not like that she critiques Tzfat. He wrote in an e-mail that he bought this site in order to make Tzfat look good. The most distressing message that she got in an e-mail from him is one that talked contemptuously about the people in the Old City, particularly the religious people there, as those who want Tzfat to be "a poor Jerusalem". He also welcomed wealthy tourists from Arab countries to Tzfat in one of his posts, even as he wrote contemptuously of poor Jews in the e-mail to me.

Moreover, he refused to cooperate and release the IP of "carin" when I told him that she was instructed by a detective to request him to do so in order that "carin's" identity be revealed and the investigation of that person proceed unabated. He, therefore, obstructed justice. Doreen notified the police that the owner of the www.safed.co.il site refused to cooperate in the investigation and release the IP of the person who is hiding behind the name "carin", who will eventually be brought to justice despite the lack of cooperation.

The site is, therefore, anti-intellectual, anti-democratic, skewed, misleading and CENSORED.

Anything for a buck.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat
B"H

And Because of Jews Like This :0(

The coward who hides behind the name "carin" wrote the following on: 00:50 7 Sep 2004 under the General Discussions topic of the Forum of www.safed.co.il (it has since been deleted by the webmaster, but I copied it before it was deleted):

The G-d of Israel demands not just that we love, but also that we hate, which is also a mitzvah:

"Those who hate You O L-rd, I hatewith a perfect hatred; I count them as my enemies" (Tehillim 139) -"including those who hate the Sages" (Rashi).

G-d is not all compassion and chessed, and where necessary He expects us to emulate Him in vengeance, expelling enemies, and ruthless genocide of men, women and children, Jews and non-Jews eg"L-rd G-d of Vengeance blaze forth""

The L-rd will empty the Earth & make it waste".

"Destroy utterly Amolek"

"Leave none alive"

"Exterminate utterly the wayward city"

"Execute the stubborn and rebellious son"

"Execute the rebellious elder"

"Both adulterers shall be led out to die".

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live".

"Man who lies with a man shall be put to death"

"An eye for an eye".etc etc etc

Actually, the Pharisees were more merciful & loving than theApocalypse-End of Mankind-yearning Essenes (see the Essenes' bloodthirsty "Scroll of War").The Pharisees kept the Sinaitic Oral Law which mitigated much eg In the Oral Law "an eye for an eye" meaning monetary recompense. Unlike the Essenes who like the Saducees did not keep the Oral Law and took it literally, gouging out people's eyes!

The person above is obviously very disturbed and very Tzfat.

As a point of information I refer the reader to the Dead Sea Scroll 4Q251 (4QHalakhah A) Fragment 8 to see how the Essenes understood "an eye for an eye". You will see that not only did they understand it as monetary recompense for freemen, they extended the ruling to slaves who were wounded by their masters.

May the God of Israel have mercy on us this coming New Year and usher out the era of Pharisaic/Rabbinic Judaism and usher in the never-ending era of the renewal of the Judaism of HaYachad, the Dead Sea Sect.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat

Monday, September 06, 2004

The Lovely People Who Call Themselves Orthodox in Tzfat

B"H

Please See The Thread Entitled "Congratulations to the Dotan Family"

http://http://tinyurl.com/59cqg

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Tzfat Is Also Home To Stunning Intellects Like This One

carin
07:17 24 Aug 2004
"The new generation of leaders in the world is now taking over. Most are under 50 (eg Safed's Yishai Maimon 48, Oded Hameiri 49 etc). This new world generation were brought up on non-stop TV, almost all took drugs in their youth and have been massively exposed to bad schooling, antibiotics, pollution and radiation. We are now on the verge of a precipitate decline worldwide in professionalism, vehicular, aircraft, shipping, construction, nuclear power plant and medical safety, intelligence, banking and accounting accuracy, persistence, filial respect, principles, core-beliefs, self-sacrifice, dedication, morals and conscience - and that's among the good guys! As always, the Jewish People lead the world in any advance or decline! Next year's Klezmer will make this year's look wonderful by comparison! Not to worry: it's all part of the plan. The world is set to end before 6000, & mankind's existence is now gradually winding down!


PS: Happy birthday to Mrs Dotan, who is also 48! (end quote, thank Gawd)

I just turned 47, BTW. My birthdate is not of record on my Tzfat site profile. I do not know how this person knows I had a birthday recently. S/he has stalked my husband and I before.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel

Tzfat is the progenitor of...

B"H

THIS:

http://www.rickross.com/groups/kabbalah.html

and where they make pilgrimages to.

Doreen


Thursday, August 26, 2004

Madonna Comes Here To Learn "Kabbalah" Tzfat Style

B"H

I've decried the fact that Tzfat is the pseudo-Kabbalah center of the world since I came to live here and saw what is really flying. I too was roped into moving to Tzfat thinking that real Torah is learned here. I was shocked and sickened when I saw the truth as a new resident of the town. A small group of people have made fortunes in Tzfat selling pseudo-Kabbalah here to the gullible many and the egomanical few. They are the ones who set the tone for what the Kabbalah is understood to be world-wide. It's a huge industry.

Madonna comes to Tzfat regularly to learn pseudo-Kabbalah and gets highly publicized guest of honor treatment in a town in which 30% of the people are unemployed and people can be found picking garbage. That money that she waves in the face of the people of Tzfat, many of whom are poor because they are dedicated to finding the way back to the true Torah of the God of Israel, has been made making moral filth seem attractive and "hip" to young people.

Yep. If you can read Hebrew, see:

http://www.gnews.co.il/news/index.phtml?c=6

What she's learned here didn't prevent her from publicity stunt tongue kissing two other women on stage, both of whom are half her age. Neither have the "holy" Rabbis or fat cats in Tzfat called her down for doing so or made her feel that her image in inappropriate in this city.

Enough said.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan (gagging)


ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ SNORT SNORT

B"H

Recently, the nice guy but do-nothing Mayor of Tzfat, Yishai Maimon, was captured on film slumped in his chair fast asleep at an official function.

The embarrassing photo was published in a local newspaper and caused quite a stir among Tzfat's "who's who".

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, deep in the heart of the poor section of the financially and morally bankrupt town (at least you can't say this is a town that never sleeps)

Tzfat In Danger of Going Bust

B"H

There are rumors, including mention of the possiblity in a local newspaper, that the Municipality of Tzfat has spun out of all financial control and that a Pro Tem Appointed Municipal Government will take over the city. This is called a Va'adah Kru'ah in Hebrew - and it always means "bad news".

When a town or city has disintegrated into a governmental and fiscal shambles and can no longer function even minimally, the Israeli government appoints a pro tem committee that comes in and takes over. They function in lieu of the municipal council, which is ousted. Their job is to salvage what can be salvaged of the city and its properties and to stave off as much further, consequent damage to the town or city's finances as possible.

Tzfat may soon be "distinguished" as one of the very few instances in which a Pro Tem Appointed Municipal Government is sent it.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat

The Klezmer Festival

B"H

Pictures of empty chairs and deserted alleyways were shown in a local newspaper. According to reports, there were more stands selling cheap wares than performance bandstands. This years' Klezmer Festival in Tzfat was the least Klezmerdik and least attended in history.

Most insulting was the fact that a Klezmer performer who was anxiously awaited by fans, was bumped from performing because a TV star showed up and wanted to do his "schtick". How crass. How embarrassing.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat

A Bit About Me

B"H

For a bit of information about your intrepid blogger, please see:

http://www.icq.com/whitepages/about_me.php?uin=302658608

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

THE SIN OF THE "GOOD" PEOPLE OF TZFAT

B"H

There are many people in Tzfat who give tzadakah (charity). They think they are good Jews and doing a great mitzvah that they will be rewarded for.

However, their sin is upon them, for they give tzadakah instead of doing tzedek. They do nothing to uproot the causes of povertization. They take no personal risks to speak out against injustice.

While it is true that tzadakah must be given to the poor in order to save them in a time of crisis, it must not be given in such a way that it perpetuates their estate. The poor must be lifted out of poverty and helped to earn a livelihood if they can, or cared for and allowed to live with dignity by society if they cannot.

There are actually Orthodox Jews who think that no action should be taken to eradicate poverty in society because it is a mitzvah to give tzedakah to the poor! May HaShem help them. They think that כי לא יחדל אביון מן הארץ means that some people must be kept poor so that others can give them charity. I actually heard this interpretation in a course of giving charity and was made heartsick by it. Such "good Orthodox Jews" cannot understand, or will not understand, that the מצוה אל תעשה means to take care that no one, God forbid, dies because no one helped them in their poverty.

Oy vay.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat

A GOOD REASON NOT EVEN TO VISIT - THE KLEZMER FESTIVAL

B"H

Every year large numbers of people crowd uncomfortably into the Old City of Tzfat to see the free shows in the various locations throughout the Old City.

There are no lockers in Tzfat, so unless you have a room here expect to carry your pack on your back. Getting a seat for the shows is difficult. You will be stampeded by the crowd and pushed along helplessly as you approach each show. Sitting on the hard stones, even on a pillow hurts after a few minutes. Crouching or sitting cross-legged on the ground, squashed between people on all sides is worse. Getting a comfortable meal in a restaurant is very difficult. The prices of the rooms to let are exorbitant. The Old City quickly becomes littered and worse - there is a dearth of Port-O-Sans and hardly anywhere to wash one's hands. Strangers have to rub up against strangers to get from one attraction to another. It's hardly modest.

I "did" the festival once - the first year we lived here. No more, thanks.

It would be much more pleasant, modest and salubrious in every way if the Klezmer Festival was spread out in the city. There is plenty of room in the South of the city for instance. The only reasonably-priced room to let I saw is in the South. The room in the South goes for $25 dollars per night, as opposed to rooms in the Old City for $75, $85, even $100 per night. But no shows are ever arranged in the South of Tzfat, or even in the shabbier areas of the Cana'an neighborhood for that matter, and those areas are never advertised...

Somebody hiding something???


P.S. This blog has made it to the search engines!

Endeavor


YES, I DO CONCERN MYSELF WITH MATTERS OTHER THAN TZFAT

B"H

Not all of the words in one of the posts below are properly spaced because the C+Ping of it from one site to another crammed it a bit. It is, however, legible, and your indulgence is requested. I simply do not have time to go through it and pick out all the little bugs.

The reason that I do not have time is because I write quite a bit.


Please visit my other blogs as well. You will find links on them to my sites and writings.

The first two blogs listed below are devoted to my thoughts on a number of topics. Yes, I do think about things other than the town without pity that I live in.

DOREEN DOTAN'S ARCHIVE

http://doreendotansarchive.blogspot.com/

הארכיון של דורין דותן

http://haarchionsheldoreendotan.blogspot.com/


THE FOLLOWING SITES ARE DEDICATED TO MY RESEARCH OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS:

Essenes Jewish and Real

http://www.essenesjewishandreal.blogspot.com/

נקבה: הקרבנות והכפרות

http://nekevah.blogspot.com/

The Final Refutation of Christianity - The Dead Sea Scrolls

http://refutationofxianityindeadseascrolls.blogspot.com/

Hidden Theophoric Names and Angelology in the Dead Sea Scrolls

http://hiddentheophoricnamesinthewarscroll.blogspot.com/

The following blog is home to the first section of a two-part book. The first section, entitled מאוצר אור החלופים: פרשת מקץ reveals the presence of the names of the Hebrew vowels in פרשת מקץ. The second section will, please God, show the presence of the names of the cantillation indications in פרשת ואתחנן, an endeavor far more involved, and daunting, than writing the first section of the book.

http://otzarnekudotparshatmiketz.blogspot.com/

THE MORAL/SPIRITUAL SUBSTRATE OF EATING IS A BLOG DEDICATED TO THE ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND THE PROFOUND LEVELS OF THE PHENOMENON OF EATING

http://www.moralspiritualsubstrateofeating.blogspot.com/

I would also like to invite you to peruse the preliminary writings currently available on a site that I have just put up entitled
THE IMPERATIVE OF MORAL MATHEMATICS.

In the near future I will have a computer capable of uploading multilingual texts, please God, and will post some of the papers I have written on the topic of Hebrew, the moral alphanumerical substrate of consciousness, language and math.

The material that will uploaded to this site will be revolutionary and present a tremendous challenge to the foundations of Western thought. It constitutes a better alternative to both mathematics as we accept them today and linguistics as well, demonstrating them to be two aspects of one and the same set of moral laws.

http://www.geocities.com/dordot2001/ImperativeOfMoralMaths.html

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel

  התודעה האלהית = 941 = אמתך = השלום