blog, my life in tel aviv, ,

yes, the sea was still wild after the storm.  not evilly wild, maybe even joyfully wild.  But we made the mistake of trying to walk along the shore and after filling our soles with tar and soot, it chased us away.

 

 

Even the buoy couldn’t stand up to the storm.  

 

And the poor trees along the shore suffered as well.

i keep thinking of the poem by Adelaide Crapsey: “On Seeing Weather-beaten Trees”

Is it as plain in our living shown, 

by slant and twist, which way the wind has blown

 

 

and the city, as always, endures

february 18, 2021 – by the sea Read Post »

blog, israeli politics, poetry,

this is only a draft, but something is going on with the internet and the computer, so i’m saving it here.  enjoy:

Soap opera

Lately I’ve been watching the washing machine.

It’s a scream the way one sock can get stuck to the door

As if it’s trying to escape, and the rest of the batch

Keeps trying to pull it back, back to conventional cleanliness.

Or are the working out how they can join the single hero

And free themselves from the rolling torture?

 

Eventually it loses, as do all the single individuals who

Only to live their life in a world as solitary souls

And I watch, knowing it will fail, and everything in a minute

Will go to the dryer.  And I will turn off the washer

And move to a more banal program on television.

february 22, 2021 – washing machine Read Post »

israeli politics

so i got so excited about the partisans last night i went back to review all the information i had gathered years ago about my aunt.  Yes, it was there: 

Malka Krawiets – Kaganovich
Birth country: Russia
Birth city: Lida
Birth date: Jan 1 1912
 
Occupation: Teacher
War organization: Not Indicated
War undergound: Not Indicated
War unit: Battalion Borba
Rank: Private
Job: Fighter (f)
Country of combat:
Region of combat: Liptshan Forest
City combat:
Framework of combat: Partisans
Death date: Jun 18 1944
Death place: Dyatlovo
Death reason: Fell in combat
Partisans

on this site in English 

 

 

February 15, 2021 – Malcah Kaganovich Read Post »

blog, my life in tel aviv,

Because Michael Kagan mentioned his participation in a zoom tonight at the Ghetto Fighters Association – Lochanei HaGhettaot, I was able to join in.  Michael was one of the stars, talking about his father’s participation in the escape tunnel.  And the evening was so fascinating that I clung to every detail  throughout the two hours, wishing I could get a question in about my aunt and her fate.   all i have are different stories in different books. and a slide of 60 fighters divided into 3 groups.

there are other faceless people in the chart, but only my aunt is a woman.

i’ll be talking a little more about her tomorrow at 1 EST here

february 14, 2021 – zhedtl Read Post »

blog, my life in tel aviv, ,

sometimes a chance conversation leads you into strange places.  i’m sure my granddaughter was not expecting these answers, but they elicited a true story I would never have thought of telling:

So what have you been up to, Grandma?

We bought a slingshot not realizing it’s considered a weapon and it was stopped at customs

the slingshot sounds fun, a shame they wouldn’t let you keep it

We’ll make our own slingshots.

what will you do with them?

Scare the wild parrots who eat the flowers  off the tree in front of our window

It’s a problem now because in the lockdown we kind of adopted a wild cat who comes to eat every day and then leaves.   But she has to let us know when she is downstairs and needs to get in the door.  For a while she was calling us from outside the window .  But now she climbs the tree and looks in our window and meows.  When she sees us, she climbs down and goes  to wait at the door.  But if we start shooting beans at the birds , she’ll get scared and fall out of the tree…

She’s an old cat. She has to watch her step.  See?  We have an exciting life.

february 14, 2021 – whatsapp conversation with granddaughter Read Post »