Stacey-my-sad-life

Juli Baker…

 

A Poem by Bryce Loski

 

 

Juli…Juli…I remember the beginning,

When you held my hand, it was quite intimidating.

I knew you loved me from the start,

However, I wished you’d depart.

Over the years, my love for you grew,

But neither of us knew.

Those eggs you gave my family for free,

I threw away happily!

Thinking neither you nor my family would discover,

Where I hid the eggs from you, under the trash cover.

My grandpa started working with you,

Fixing your lawn, making it look good as new!

It was hard for me to confess my love,

Even harder when you returned with a shove.

I did act like such a jerk,

But life without you would make me berserk.

 

 

 

Bryce Loski…

 

A Poem by Juli Baker

 

 

Bryce…Bryce… I remember the beginning,

When I met you my heart started singing.

Even though I was only six,

Looking at you, my eyes did transfix.

I dreamed of kissing you forever,

Stopping I would never.

You never shared this dream,

But your blue eyes made it seem.

Like this love would have a happy ending,

No…I’ve given up on it mending.

Your grandpa is a wonderful man,

And he has helped me realize your plan.

You never even loved me,

Hurting me over something that you thought was funny.

On my handicapped uncle, you made a joke,

I don’t know how I can forgive that type of folk.

I know you have been throwing away my eggs,

I’ll never forget it even if you beg.

I will never forget about you,

But trust me, I am trying to.

The Court Jew
By Stacey Berkowitz

 

           “Court Jew” was a term given to a Jew who worked as a financial advisor around the Renaissance time period. In most cases, they assisted Christian nobles of many countries, mostly in central Europe. There was a few famous Court Jews including Rabbi Shmuel Ha-Levi, his son, Rabbi Yosef, and Rabbi Hasdai ibn Shaprut. There were many advantages to the Jews, but do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of Court Jews?

 

          A Court Jew’s job varies but is important and there are many advantages. They would manage finances of noble houses and lend money out. Court Jews could also supply food, ammunition, and precious metals or manage trade. They would use their family connections and usually Jews were willing to support the Court Jews. In return, a Court Jew might be allowed to live outside the Jewish ghettoes. Court Jews were given social privileges and were well-known throughout the area. Sometimes, Court Jews would become very wealthy and eventually had political influence. They could use this influence to protect the Jews and to make life easier for them in these Christian-ruled countries.

 

          There were some disadvantages to being a Court Jew. Sometimes the Christians would ignore debts owed to Court Jews because Jews were looked down upon in society. If a Court Jew did something wrong, the noble could take it out on all the Jews, making Court Jews risky.
Rabbi Shmuel Ha-Levi was a Court Jew at first to a vizier and moved up in status until he was appointed prince by King Habbus in 4787. He got very wealthy and used his money to higher scribes to write over Mishnahs and Talmuds to distribute to Jews in Spain. He would donate money to anyone looking to be a torah scholar. He also supplied the olive oil for the lamps in the synagogues of Jerusalem. When he died, his son Rabbi Yosef got all his wealth, but unlike his father, Rabbi Yosef was not humble. Berber princes got jealous of him and murdered him, but the legacy of this father and son live on.

 

Rabbi Hasdai ibn Shaprut was eventually appointed counselor to the Caliph Abd al-Rahman III because of his knowledge and character. He was in charge of all foreign affairs. He had control of the port of Cordova. Johannes of Goritz complemented him by saying, “I have never seen a man of such subtle intellect as the Jew Hasdai.”

 

All of these famous Court Jews were very powerful, but there were some disadvantages too. Rabbi Yosef’s life ended because Berber princes were jealous. However, I do think the advantages were much greater. Jews were thought better of since these Court Jews were so honorable. The Court Jews were able to help the Jews sometimes like when Rabbi Shmuel supplied Torah books to everyone.

 

An example of this today would be a student to a teacher. The student has no power to control classroom affairs until he is promoted to becoming some sort of teacher or teacher’s helper. The Christians treated a Court Jew and a regular Jew very differently even though they had the same background. Same is true about the relationship between a student and a teacher. All teachers had to have been students at one time. Like the Court Jews, this different type of student is treated differently. Teachers get paid while students pay to attend the classes, however both teachers and students learn daily. Although teachers don’t control our lives like the Christians and aren’t usually cruel, I think the way teachers versus students is similar to the way Court Jews versus regular Jews were treated.

so i havent acually written anythinin a while ive been sooo busy ive just been postin my essays here so i can open them up on other comps....anyways remember ben and evan.... well they left my skool...josh graduated along with sarah n shira and im now in the 8th grade....i get sooooo mcuh hw......ooo n this sun im taking the sat's cuz im "gifted" how excitin wfat a waste of $$$$70!!!! im prob gunna fail ... acually thts a lie ill prob do okay cuz im liike smart n shit even though online i dont suound like it lol.....hopefully ill member to comment by hanukah....hopin for lots of good presents.....

 

luv ya bitchess....

 

StAcEy