OHMYGOSSIP — A Directory of Danish Newspapers, News from Denmark. For information on local issues, politics, events, celebrations, people & business. Also accommodation, shopping, bargains and weather. Information about holidays, vacations, resorts, real estate and property together with finance, stock market and investments reports; also look for theater, movies, culture, entertainment, activities and events all covered in Danish newspapers.
Helena-Reet Ennet
Sweden: Tourist Information Offices
OHMYGOSSIP — There are 400 “Tourist Information Offices” in Sweden, ready to answer any question you may have, however difficult. They will be happy to send you information about their respective communities and their surrounding countryside, sights and attractions. Here Sverigeturism.se has listed them by province, with onward links to their local websites and e-mail addresses.
Tziporah Heller: Escape from Ur Kasdim!
How are all of you Avrahams doing out there in Ur Kasdim?
Our ancestor waited 72 years (from when he first became aware of Hashem, at the age of three), to hear Him answer. You can only imagine what he heard from his family and friends. They all felt that they had answers from their gods. If you devote yourself religiously to the pursuit of money, the god of cash usually answers you. If you want ego gratification, power, prestige, turn to the god of control. They no doubt tried to reach their gods by appealing to the forces in nature that reflect their power, for example, the god of fertility, the earth itself, is what they saw as the source of plentitude. We would call it the god of cash.
They would no doubt have had innumerable proofs that their gods answer them. Avraham saw his G-d wherever he looked, and saw existence as an answer. He gathered thousands of students around him, wrote books, and opened eyes and hearts. You can only imagine how well he was loved by the establishment.
He wanted more. He was like a coil waiting to spring.
Nesivot Shalom tells us that the test at the beginning of this past week’s parshah was as great as the one at the end of the coming week’s parshah. Last week the opening words tell us that Hashem spoke to Avraham telling him, “Go to yourself from your land, your birthplace, and your father’s house”. This week we read “Go to yourself to the land of Moriah, and offer him (Yitzchak)….” On the surface of things, this is very difficult to even think about. How can you compare sacrificing your beloved only child with moving beyond the limitations of your birthplace? As difficult as it is to carve your own path, how can you compare it to losing what is most precious to you?
The answer is that the second one is the logical outcome of the first one. In order to be able to reach the level that he needed to attain for the akeidah (binding of Yitzchak in preparation for doing what Avraham thought must be done, sacrificing him), he had to reinvent himself.
He had to do three things:
1. Leave. This isn’t just geographic; every country has its own culture. Some of the country’s culture is positive, (for instance, current American culture is tolerant, compassionate, and open to change) and some is negative (for instance the very same culture is more tolerant of similarity than it is of difference; the “I hate” problem alive and well. It is also arguably the most materialistic and competitive society to ever evolve). You have to decide to leave all of the negative realities behind you and forge your path. Take what is good, and move on.
2. Stop blaming your family. Move on. Every family also has its own culture. Select what is inspirational, integrate it, and leave behind the rest. You don’t have to be defensive because your mom is critical. You don’t have to repress your feelings in an unhealthy way because your dad yells. You can learn from your mom how to see things as they are (and not as you wish they were), and from your dad, how to be assertive (when courage is called for).
3. Love yourself as you are. When you were conceived, your basic traits were put into place. Some of your inherent traits are easier to deal with, and some far more difficult. It is up to you embrace the hard places and let the battle turn you into a spiritual warrior.
The place that Hashem takes you to is your own inner reality. It is what you experience when you think about what you like in yourself. What you are seeing is the G-diness within you. Every so often, reflect on the beautiful and pure side of your identity, and that will give you the will and strength to move on.
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For over two decades Tziporah Heller has been teaching at Neve Yerusahalyim – The Jerusalem College for Jewish Women’s Studies – today’s largest Jewish women’s educational network. Known as an outstanding scholar of Jewish Studies and a gifted speaker, Tziporah Heller has been inspiring Jewish women and men of all ages who yearn to learn more about the depth and beauty of Judaism and connect to their Jewish heritage. As an internationally sought after speaker Tziporah Heller speaks to groups from every Jewish affiliation, including the Jewish Renaissance Manhattan, Aish LA & Toronto, Ohr Naava, Jewish Learning Exchange-L.A., Women’s Institute of Torah Baltimore, Torah Unesorah, Ohr Somayach, Ashreinu-Los Angeles, JLE-London, and many more.
Author: Tziporah Heller
Source: Tziporahheller.com “Escape from Ur Kasdim! “
Orthodox Rabbis stand on principle
Recently, an American Jewish clergyman officiated at a matrimonial ceremony that is incorrectly being reported by some in the media as “the first time that an ordained Orthodox Rabbi has officiated at a same-sex marriage in the United States.”
EXCLUSIVE! The new “Ohmygossip Couture” models – WHO’s WHO
Last week the clothing and accessory brand “Ohmygossip Couture” that started business in Latin America in 2008 selected 3 new beautiful models Breth Tootsi, Triin Tulev and Marianna Link as new team members.
Helena-Reet Ennet: I’m quite sure that one day I will be bigger in media than Arianna Huffington
Helena-Reet Ennet (32) is the mother of two daughters, Estella Elisheva and Ivanka Shoshana, the chief editor of Gossip.ee and Ohmygossip.com and the development manager of Ohmygossip Couture brand. “Buduaar” has asked Helena-Reet what she thinks of women’s place in the world of business.
Helena-Reet: I don’t think anyone escapes life without some crazy fashion disasters
The Estonian journalist and businesswoman – who appears as a contestant on TV show ‘Survivor’ – launched last year her second fashion venture Ohmygossip Couture “Life is beautiful” and says she will be ecstatic if she sees someone wearing one of her designs.
Viking is ‘forefather to British royals’? Norwegian-French investigation hopes to reveal that Norwegian Viking noble Ganger Hrólf was the same person as Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy
NordenBladet – A joint Norwegian-French investigation hopes to reveal that Norwegian Viking noble Ganger Hrólf was the same person as Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy – and the forefather of the British royal family.
Rollo*, sometimes known as Robert I, is estimated to have lived between 846 and 931 AD, and was the first ruler of a Viking settlement in France that later became Normandy. His direct descendants became the British royal family after the Norman invasion of Britain in 1066, when Rollo’s great-great-great-grandson, William the Conqueror (William I of England), successfully conquered England. William the Conqueror’s direct descendants include current Queen Elizabeth II.
Danish or Norwegian?
Danish and Norwegian historians have long debated whether Rollo came originally from Denmark or Norway. Accounts by Dudo of St. Quentin and others name Rollo as the son of a Danish king, while many Icelandic and Norwegian sagas equate Rollo with Ganger Hrólf (Hrólf the Walker), the son of a Norwegian earl from Sunnmøre in west Norway. Ganger Hrólf (written as Gange-Rolv in Norwegian) is believed to have become an earl of Normandy after conflict with Harald Fairhair, also known as the first king of Norway. A statue of Rollo by a French sculptor was given to the west Norwegian city of Ålesund in 1911, when debate between Norwegian and Danish historians first raged, during celebrations of 1000 years since the founding of Normandy.
Newspaper Aftenposten reports that French and Norwegian researchers now hope to prove that Rollo was indeed Ganger Hrólf. They plan to use DNA samples from Rollo’s grandson and great grandson, Richard I and Richard II respectively, to find out for certain, as no remnants of Rollo himself are available. As Danish and Norwegian Viking kings had separate familial lines, it is hoped that the research will clear up the mystery of Rollo’s origin.
‘Large French-Norwegian collaboration’
The investigation itself has been in doubt over uncertainties as to whether French authorities would allow the opening of Richard I and Richard II’s crypts, which are found at a Benedictine monastery in Fecamp on the north coast of France. The Norwegian consulate in Paris has been involved in negotiations. A researcher with research foundation Explioco, Sturla Ellingvåg, told Aftenposten that “we reckon that the eventual opportunity to find Rollo’s DNA is good” after discussions with French authorities. Ellingvåg, who is working with Professor Per Holck from the Anatomical Institute at the National Hospital in Oslo among others, added that “we had extremely positive meetings with the local authorities in Rouen and Fecamp” and look forward to “a large French-Norwegian collaboration.”
The researchers now await an approval process that could last a month. In anticipation of a positive answer, the Norwegian team is planning to travel to France “in the first half of July,” and hope to finish their work by the end of September, before the marking of Rollo’s 1100-year anniversary and the establishing of Viking settlements in Normandy.
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Rollo or Gaange Rolf (Norman: Rou; Old Norse: Hrólfr; French: Rollon; c. 860 – c. 930 AD) was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, a region in northern France. He is sometimes called the first Duke of Normandy. His son and grandson, William Longsword and Richard I, used the titles “count” (Latin comes or consul) and “prince” (princeps). His great-grandson Richard II was the first to officially use the title of Duke of Normandy. His Scandinavian name Rolf was extended to Gaange Rolf because he became too heavy as an adult for a horse to carry; therefore he had to walk (ganga in older Dano-Norwegian). Rollo emerged as the outstanding personality among the Norsemen who had secured a permanent foothold on Frankish soil in the valley of the lower Seine. Charles the Simple, the king of West Francia, ceded them lands between the mouth of the Seine and what is now Rouen in exchange for Rollo agreeing to end his brigandage, and provide the Franks with protection against future Viking raids.
Rollo is first recorded as the leader of these Viking settlers in a charter of 918, and he continued to reign over the region of Normandy until at least 928. He was succeeded by his son William Longsword in the Duchy of Normandy that he had founded. The offspring of Rollo and his followers became known as the Normans. After the Norman conquest of England and their conquest of southern Italy and Sicily over the following two centuries, their descendants came to rule Norman England (the House of Normandy), the Kingdom of Sicily (the Kings of Sicily) as well as the Principality of Antioch from the 10th to 12th century, leaving behind an enduring legacy in the histories of Europe and the Near East.
The name Rollo is generally presumed to be a latinisation of the Old Norse name Hrólfr – a theory that is supported by the rendition of Hrólfr as Roluo in the Gesta Danorum. It is also sometimes suggested that Rollo may be a Latinised version of another Norse name, Hrollaugr.
Rollo is generally identified with one Viking in particular – a man of high social status mentioned in Icelandic sagas, which refer to him by the Old Norse name Göngu-Hrólfr, meaning “Hrólfr the Walker” (also widely known by an Old Danish variant, Ganger-Hrolf). The byname “Walker” is usually understood to suggest that Rollo was so physically imposing that he could not be carried by a horse and was obliged to travel on foot. Norman and other French sources do not use the name Hrólfr, and the identification of Rollo with Göngu-Hrólfr is based upon similarities between circumstances and actions ascribed to both figures.[citation needed]
The 10th-century Norman historian Dudo records that Rollo took the baptismal name Robert. A variant spelling, Rou, is used in the 12th-century Norman French verse chronicle Roman de Rou, which was compiled by Wace and commissioned by King Henry II of England, a descendant of Rollo.
Featured image: Rollo as depicted in the town of Falaise. (Michael Shea / Wikipedia Commons)
Read more Norwegian news and info in English
Helena-Reet: Nobody is fascinating for others as long as he has nothing to give
Some days ago I talked to a friend who lives in California and she gladly said: “Helena-Reet, you can’t imagine what a cool site I found on the Internet. It’s possible to buy tickets to whatever A-list event that takes place in Hollywood and to the private parties of celebrities as well.
15 Facts you didn’t know about your body
