blog, poetry

what is the most important thing the ophthalmologist had to tell us? that he just got a green passport! “What can you do with it?” I asked. He thought for a moment. “Nothing. ” then he added. “Yet.” Still, he was thrilled. It gave me great hope.

But soon after, we were talking with a guy who was trying to get a vaccine – and he got the appointment. “Since after all, we’re guinea pigs for Pfizer and will all get the vaccine eventually. ” And then he said, “But what happens if all the Israelis get it and it turns out to be poison? It will be the end of the Jewish people.”

tell me we’re all not crazy

january 12, 2021 – green passport and anxiety Read Post »

blog, poetry

it was impossible for me to answer the phone to anyone over 10 years old today.  I’m so contentious there’s almost no one I’m not critical of, almost no one I don’t want to pick an argument with.  I don’t know why in particular I was not happy.  Everything was going my way – I spoke to the government offices about the IAWE, got cheerful but wrong answers, and transfered money to them easily, got all the information from the bank to send to the accountant for them, etc etc.  i even played games on zoom with my granddaughter – who – like my dear late mother – cheated with great pleasure and good humor.  I wrote a poem in Yiddish yesterday for my grandson and he recorded it today. 

And most important, I avoided the media – didn’t look at Nancy Pelosi, at hospital capacity, at impeachment, at PM trials.  

So why was it so dangerous to talk to me?  It was.  With the exception of Ezi, I tried to keep even people I loved far away.  It was a general meltdown.  And it was only alleviated by a little interview with Ahmed Tibi on TV.  When I see him I think anything is possible.

it seems it has turned out that I overestimated my situation – i’m not just crazy – i’m sick.

january 11, 2021 – meltdown Read Post »

israeli politics

a poem in Yiddish

my grandson likes to quote poems – a while ago he picked up a Russian nursery rhyme from me and I recorded it.  he can still quote it at the drop of a hat, and last week he did an English poem – with great humor and emotion.  Today he asked me to give him a Yiddish one – and i know he needs something short and funny.  So i wrote one.  

דער קאטער שלאפט זיך אפן דאך

ער גייט ארויס אין הגאס ביי נאכט

ער טומעלט זיך ארום א סאך

און שלאפט גאנצענע טעג אך דאך

too late to give it to him, but i’ll bet he learns it fast.

in English it would be

The cat sits on the roof

he goes wandering at night

he raises such a ruckus 

so he sleeps all day on the roof

 

 

 

january 10, 2021 – Read Post »

israeli politics

Ronny Sommek

 

Zoom

 

I count the bears on R’s pajamas   

From twelfth grade listening

To me reading a poem

About ballet shoes.

The teacher T’  in the next square

Missed a hair above the left eye

When she tried to be exact

Plucking her eyebrows

The beard of Teacher Y’

Is more manicured

Than the Gardens of Luxembourg

And the cat on the lap of  H

Deserves an embrace.

D’ judging by his shirt is a member

Of the Nature Conservation Group,

And the flowers in the vase behind him

I identify as permitted to pick.

K’s turtle-neck sweater is black and, she

Looks like the raven in the old Scottish ballad,

And I hope that T doesn’t fix that eagle nose

That really complements her,

And while we’re on the subject of the nose:

The fact that P’ is the ideal

Of painters of Aphrodite

That N’ is freckled

And H’ is too close to the camera.

 

She’s the last to turn off the video

And my eyes suddenly munch on my own

the screen that fills

with squares of chocolate.

 

translated by Karen Alkalay-Gut –

all rights reserved

January 10, 2021 – poem by Ronny sommek Read Post »

israeli politics

Today at my brother’s weekly Mishna lesson we got to this: 

Mishnah 5:18.  Whoever causes the multitudes to be righteous, sin will not occur on his account; And whoever causes the multitudes to sin, they do not give him the ability to repent. Moses was righteous and caused the multitudes to be righteous, [therefore] the righteousness of the multitudes is hung on him, as it is said, “He executed the Lord’s righteousness and His decisions with Israel” (Deuteronomy 33:21). Jeroboam, sinned and caused the multitudes to sin, [therefore] the sin of the multitudes is hung on him, as it is said, “For the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he caused Israel to sin thereby” (I Kings 15:30).

The responsibility of a leader is great.  I don’t know what I would do, how I would sleep at night.   The fact that our leader was supposed to come up for a criminal trial this week, but managed to get it postponed, seems to me to be a very bad example to set.  “It doesn’t matter what you do, but whether you get caught”  is not a good rule to follow.  

 

And to my mind, the responsibility of choosing a leader is no less great in a democracy.  

 

january 9, 2021 – Mishna lesson Read Post »

blog, poetry

we’ve got 2 weeks of lockdown for sure, and maybe a bit more.  People around here blame the weddings and schools in the religious sector and the Arab sector and say that if Bibi wasn’t so scared of losing their vote, we could have had a partial lockdown of these areas alone.  Had we not had agreements with Dubai, we might not have let people go in and out of the airport without testing.  The number of people who came back from Dubai with Corona was very significant.   Even more significant is the fact that the lockdown has enabled a postponement of the trial of Bibi.  It is pretty clear that the lockdown is the result of this final factor and the government easily led us to this.  We’ve been in such isolation anyway, so it’s hard to see much of a difference.  But the number of unemployed, the number of businesses that have closed, the number of people in financial ruin, has been so high and the current situation has finished them off.

january 8, 2021 – why are we in lockdown Read Post »