What with school starting, ongoing high holidays with all their preparations and communal gatherings, we’re not going to have an easier time of the corona in the near future. Our visit to the doctor confirmed what we know – Ezi’s in trouble and must not be exposed. Fortunately, we’ve been keeping safe all along. And we’re not really going crazy yet.
But I think we’ll pass on the high holidays again this year.
september 12, 2021 – vaccines, vaccines, vacc Read Post »
Have I mentioned that we were expecting the rockets that fell on Sderot tonight? Until the Qatar money gets settled and comes through to Gaza, they’re going not to leave us alone. We could have done so much if that money went through us to reconstruct the country, but it’s going to go to build tunnels to attack us and to buy weapons.
And have I mentioned that we’re expecting rain? It usually rains on Sukkot. We’re early.
september 11, 2021 – rockets and Read Post »
Now that four of the six escaped prisoners have been caught, we realize that the brilliant prison escape was not smart, but lucky. The four escapees were found homeless and hungry and planless. But with weapons.
I am relieved they were caught, upset that they managed to free themselves, and devastated that we could not have prevented the need to imprison anyone.
september 11, 2021 – not smart Read Post »
How did we deal with this terrible tragedy, this shock? At the time I wrote an article about poetic responses here.
it now seems so naive to me – since this moment made salient the change that was taking place in the world. A change we are still encountering. But maybe poetry sensed this revolution – and the lies that ensued turning the middle east upside down the wrong way.
september 11, 2021 Read Post »
I’m thinking of the word tschuva in different ways. Literally it means return, as in returning to righteousness. Some people say it is returning home, as in living in Israel. For me, the idea of returning has always been different and changing. Reevaluating myself and seeing where I am what I want to be and where I’m lying to myself and others. It is strange how attached I am to this sabbath and how influenced I was by my rabbi – Rabbi Karp – on this issue. More of that after I’ve cleaned up the kitchen – tomorrow.
september 10, 2021 – shabbat tschuva Read Post »
it’s tomorrow, remember:
WHAT SHE SAW
(The Statue of Liberty on September 11)
I stand here for generations watching
the tired the poor the huddled masses
pretending to look beyond them,
into some ideal time when all learn
the need for the progress of humanity,
the need to include, accept, encompass.
Its not that I don’t think about it,
but what I really watch is the island –
developing slowly to transcend
even my wildest dreams of liberty,
the maturing, collective knowledge
of the human mind in its service.
Buildings grow – to accommodate,
unite nations. The World Trade Center!
The name alone was enough to give me reason
for standing here, waiting, all these years.
I see the setbacks too, the tragedies,
the fires, the overwhelming struggles
of people too close to each other,
people needing to be free
by suppressing someone else.
But today, watching
all the wonders of civilization
enslaved to destroy
themselves and others,
is my worst.
I will require
great and steady vision
to learn to see
liberty
again
september 10, 2021 – for the world trade center Read Post »
The Mediterranean is like glass now. We bathe in it at sunset feeling like we’re in the middle of a pastoral painting. Ezi’s taking pictures that I’ll probably see tomorrow when he wakes up, and I’m going through painters and paintings I haven’t seen for a long time. And then suddenly an image of Poussin’s famous “Et in Arcadia Ego” comes to me with the shepherds and shepherdesses, 
Of course, this painting is about the discovery of death even in paradise. And then I realize it’s the anniversary of the destruction of the twin towers, in two days.
If there are pictures of this gorgeous sea, I’ll have to put them up tomorrow. I’m not going to wake Ezi up to compare him with Poussin.
september 9, 2021 – seabathing Read Post »
This holiday has become a one-meal-to-another-because-we-need-to-escape-reality kind of holiday. I can’t remember a less holiday-like holiday, even though our pandemic numbers show us signs of optimism.
september 8, 2021 – Read Post »
