Shalom Ba' Olam

Shalom, Shalom,

A dear friend, Aliza Shifberg, of blessed memory, would say that when I said "Shalom."
She said it in kind of a bored way.
Like, "Yeah, Yeah, Shalom already."
Aliza was a Holocaust survivor from Poland.
After fleeing Poland in the forties, as a 15 year old girl, she fought against the Arabs and the British, ("Mainly the British." she would say) as a member of the underground organization, Haganah.
When I light the Shabbat candle on Friday, I think of dear Aliza and her family.
When I was "vacationing", last year, her daughter sent me a number of books on Israel and Jewish issues, and kept in constant communication, when many of my gentile friends, and even family, forsook me.
Aliza was brought from New Mexico to live with her son, Israel,in Thailand, where she lived the type of life she deserved, pampered and loved by all.
A true mensch, she was.
I'm going to keep the Amy Winehouse video up as long as YouTube will let me, it's really a great video and showcase for an incredibly talented lady.
If you have a few moments, please give it a listen..tell your friends, buy the album!
All you Blackburn's out there, and everyone else, for that matter, enjoy the week-end!