israeli politics

Every day I get another letter criticizing Israel.  Today it was a letter and a phone call.  The letter was about how Israel is so selfish it won’t share the iron dome with Ukraine.  The thing is that Israel is a very small country, and could fit into a pocket of Ukraine.  And if the Hamas and Hizballah were using rockets the size of Russia’s,  we would disappear in a minute.  Many of the buildings in Ukraine are still standing, albeit in skeleton form, but there would be nothing left of our house if one of those bombs fell in our neighborhood.

The phone call was from a friend in New York who left Israel years ago in protest over the occupation.  She came to the understanding suddenly that we aren’t the worst country in the world.   It is very hard to be good and moral in a world in which everyone else is not following your rules. Or any rules for that matter.

 

 

march 24, 2022 – madness Read Post »

israeli politics

While the weather is still unseasonably cold, and we’re waiting for the promised rain today, the sun is still shining, and I’m going to take a shower and do my inhalations and smile into the mirror.  We’ve had some scares – the rise in corona and polio, the inevitable rise in terrorism – but the dog we’re trying to train let us sleep all night and didn’t pee all over, and i think i can overcome the obstacles to my little hebrew book on Egypt, and Asher Reich is going to help us.  So there are positivie things in the world.  And the sun is still shining.

march 23, 2022 – shower Read Post »

israeli politics

I keep the tv on while I’m reading a book, since my voice is gone and my head isn’t working with all that codeine I’m getting.  The book, Cairo Circles  by Doma Mahmoud, is about a guy whose cousin blows himself up in a terrorist attack.  And the news they are interviewing a cousin of the Bedouin who stabbed 4 people to death before he was killed.  The cousin on TV is asking that the country dedicate a day of learning about this kind of incident.  He’s just said that his cousin is from a normative family and no one had an inkling of his extremist beliefs.  

 

 

march 22, 2022 – terrorism Read Post »

israeli politics

In honor of the first day of spring, my doctor is changing my antibiotics.

Seriously, guys, it is bitter cold around here – even the trees don’t know how to behave.  Some are shedding and some are blossoming. 

Every year we turn off the central heating on March 15.  For the past few years, we’ve even turned it off weeks before.  The determining factor is always my feet.  That is, when I begin to complain that my feet are cold, Ezi consults with Shlomo and they agree to ask Tami to collect the payments of those residents who participate in the under-floor heating pipes.  Usually we run out of money for the heater by mid-March and my feet are okay.  So we stop.  This year I’ve been turning on all the air-conditioners to warm and I’m still sick all the time.

Spring.  Humbug.


march 21, 2022 – spring Read Post »

israeli politics

In the past few years I’ve read “HaAretz” in English for the headlines, and for the real local news I went to the Hebrew and the NYTimes.  But now that the weekend magazine is back, I keep it all week and really read it.    All that’s missing is the local news about English events – the plays, readings, book launches, etc.  And that will come back.  Especially now that the tourists are returning.  In droves.

march 20, 2022 – weekend HaAretz Read Post »

israeli politics

The funeral of Rev Kanievksy has closed down the city.  The university is on zoom; Cars cannot pass here because the roads are filled with busses on their way to the mourning.   

For us all that matters is that we’re  keeping the dog happy.  He stole my pillows last night and neither of us slept – as a consequence, we’ll be walking a lot close to home this afternoon – after a morning rest…

And here I was getting ready for a full day’s work at last.  I’m hoping now for a few hours of peace.

Not that he’s a bad dog – just a young orphan abandoned by his family for a week of skiing.  And I dream of a bit of apres-ski.

turns out i’ve got a pleural infection – so apres-ski is perfect for me

march 20, 2020 – traumas Read Post »