Taking A Break

I was dealing with a great deal of paperwork and needed to escape. It was a cloudy day and the sun began to come out. All of the photo's were taken within 35 - 40 minutes from Baltimore.

Summer Flowers in Maryland - By Victoria Polin

© (2007) photographs by Vicki Polin

I took a break from work and went to the Mt. Washington Arboretum.

Long Way Home

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin

I had to go on errands. The sun was still up when I was done so I decided to take the long way home.

Quick Trip To Washington DC

© (2007) photographs by Vicki Polin

Off The Derech - The Camel of Baltimore County

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin

This was the first time I saw a camel just outside a cornfield.

Back Roads To Hunt Valley - Photographs by Victoria Polin

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin

I started off on Tufton Rd. in Baltimore county and then just kept making turns down country roads.

Shalom - Photographs by Victoria Polin

© (2007) photographs by Vicki Polin

Driving in Southern Pennsylvania - July, 2007

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin
While I was driving around I was thinking about how everyone is trying to out do each other in how frum they can be.  For some reason this song kept playing in my head as I thought about how everyone seems to enjoy putting themselves in boxes.

Gettysburg and Beyond

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin

The following photographs were taking on a trip to Gettysburg, PA.

Thank you to a friend - by Vicki Polin

© (2007) photographs by Vicki Polin

A friend of mine translated the words to this song for me. She told me it's a very old very popular Yiddish song called "A small Succah."

A Jew sits in a small succah and cries for his child who has gone to war...He cries out to his father in heaven..."Father, It's enough already!"

First Day of Summer - 2007

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin

The Pond in June - Pikesville, MD

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin

Back roads to Gettysburg, PA

The following photographs were taken during a few trips taking the back roads from Baltimore, MD to Gettysburg, PA.

Memorial Day Weekend - 2007

© (2007) Vicki Polin

The Birds - Memorial Day, 2007

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin

Hatikva

The Hope
As long as deep in the heart,
The soul of a Jew yearns,
And forward to the East
To Zion, an eye looks

Our hope will not be lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free nation in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.


Hatikva
Kol od balevav p'nimah
Nefesh Yehudi homiyah
Ulfa'atey mizrach kadimah
Ayin l'tzion tzofiyah
Od lo avdah tikvatenu
Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim
L'hiyot am chofshi b'artzenu
Eretz Tzion v'Yerushalayim

On The Road Again

These photographs were taken in April, 2007

Pre-Pesach Photographs and Prayer

Passover Prayer On Behalf of Abused and Neglected Children
(2007) Author Unknown

The prayer below was written for protective parents and their loved ones, child abuse advocates, and all who care about children to recite at their passover seder. A spring onion is added to the seder plate, or placed on the table as a symbol.

The Passover Seder is a time to celebrate our freedom and remember those who still struggle for the freedoms they deserve. Freedom from tyranny, violence, and oppression is a core value for us as our ancestors have known slavery, and our heart goes out to the enslaved and the imprisoned of any race, culture or creed. Tonight we remember a group of individuals often forgotten, trapped by a kind of slavery so cruel, that society often looks the other way---children (including adult survivors of child abuse) enslaved in lives of abuse.

Today I remember ____________ (fill in name of a child or children you know trapped in lives of abuse. or substitute... "these children.") Though many of us have tried to free them, the Pharaohs in our generation have blocked our efforts or looked the other way. Our hearts ache knowing the pain these children live with day after day. They are not forgotten. With this prayer we share our commitment to find a way to liberate them from their lives of exploitation and tyranny.

This spring onion on the Seder plate is our symbol for these children and their plight. The shape of the onion reminds us of the whips used on slaves to keep them subjugated. The tears we shed from the onion remind us of the silent tears of these children waiting for rescue. The newness of the onion reminds us of the promise of hope, that one day these children can grow healthy and free from the tyranny they are living with today.

We pray for the wisdom to find an effective path to liberate these children. We pray for the courage to stand up to the Pharaoh's of our generation and speak the truth of what we know. We pray for the strength and fortitude to keep on fighting for their freedom.

May these children (including adult survivors) soon know the sweetness of freedom from violence and oppression and share Passover Seders and other celebrations of freedom, safely, with loved ones next year!

Amen.

The Birds - March, 2007

Driving to the store

My ride to the grocery store should only take a few minutes. For some reason it seems to take me much longer. I keep making the wrong turns and end up out in the middle of no where taking pictures.