i don’t know what I did, but I had some great stories to tell you and when I didn’t tell them, they disappeared. I know only that I’ve spent three days trying to figure out what I did wrong but only now have I found a solution – not a reason – but a solution. I’ll be back with a story soon. As soon as I’ve made my reservations for New York.
april 24, 2022 – i’m back Read Post »
Whatever is going on in Jerusalem or the strip, my kids are on vacation. And in a few hours, they will relieve us and take the dog back and we will begin our final passover holiday. It will be another Friday, Ramadan and Passover once again concurrent, and today was a tough day to begin with. But this photograph feels the way I would like Chol Hamoed to be for all of us.
april 21, 2022 – vacatio Read Post »
I’m watching the dog – who is – thankfully – going home tonight. And since he is totally unpredictable and undisciplined and scared, causing us to frequently lose our cool, I’m trying the method I’ve raised other dogs – carrot and control. First, short leash, second – love reinforcement in addition to occasional treats.
It seems to be working. And I think Bennett wants to go this way, but Ben-Gvir keeps setting up road blocks. I don’t believe we should be visiting the Temple Mount during Ramadan, much less waving flags all over the streets of Jerusalem. Is any one surprised that we are getting rockets on our heads in Sderot? Is anyone surprised that the tensions are escalating to the point where our wiser Arab politicians are abandoning hope for a greater improvement for their people, despite the opportunities opening to them?
I don’t mean to compare dogs to people. I just know what works on me. When I know what is expected of me, what I lose and what I gain from certain behaviour, I feel better – even if I don’t always follow the rules. If I could be assured that there is respect for both the Mosque and the Temple beneath it, I would be really pleased to ensure the peace. But neither of us trust the other, and with good reason.
I’m ranting I know. My focus today is on keeping the dog quiet and happy. And as you know I never edit or revise. But maybe some of this rant makes sense to you…
april 21, 2022 – another Rocket Read Post »
When I told the hairdresser that I have to get home to take out the dog, he warned me against it. “You shouldn’t be so nice to your children – It’s not good for them as well as you. I’m sure they don’t want to see you splattered all over the pavement.” He hadn’t even seen the wildness of this animal. And my kids think the same thing – but somehow thought all will be well. But then the hairdresser added that he had left his dog with his parents, and when he returned he was told that the dog disappeared. “Disappeared!”” he muttered to himself, “They probably left him on a traffic island somewhere.”
And that put my mind on the subject that keeps coming up in recent days. The whole concept of the chain of ethics – what do we owe our parents, our children, ourselves, our animals, our friends, our enemies, our teachers, our students, our strangers.
I just wrote a note to Shlomo Gronich who clearly made a mistake last night when in a concert he used some racial slurs – ironically I believe. Although the audience laughed the press hasn’t stopped discussing the issue and his apologies have not been accepted, even though his family announced that he’s suffering from dementia. I must add that I noticed his mind alterations three years ago when I was trying to help him with a song, and today I owe him a letter of support.
This discussion may look like I too am suffering from dementia but I do think the issues are related. The way I treat my friends is connected to the way I treat my children, their responsibilities as parents and their responsibilities as dog owners.
And it is connected to the way we treat our neighbors and respect their religion. It’s all a single fabric. The parade today of Israeli flags through the streets on Jerusalem as a response to the violence in Temple Mount is also a question of social ethics and responsibility.
I started today talking about my children leaving their dog with me, and continued with a erring friend, and end with a political issue – because I believe it’s all one issue. What do you think?
p.s. As for the racial slurs – Gronich said that there was not one chach-chach in the audience, that everyone was a vus-vus. Now why is it a “compliment” to be called ‘vus-vus’ and a racial slur to be called ‘chach-chach’? yes, he was definitely joking about our racial sensitivity, in the same way he sings “I have a sympathy for the people who live in tel aviv – with their peeling walls and their stalled busses and the people with no sympathy…” and other songs that laugh at themselves as well as the audience. But we have no sense of self-irony any more.
april 20, 2022 – parenting Read Post »
The last I heard about my first cousin in Dneiperpotrovsk was that he was fine in the early 1950’s, that he had four sons, and that it was dangerous for him to have my mother write him. I’ve don’t everything I can think of to find a link to the family – Kaganovich – even appeared on a family search program coming out of Moscow. Not a word. I’ve found other people names Alexander Kaganovich, but they’re either my distant cousins and they live in the US or they are not related.
I’m still looking. 
The last I heard there are 150000 Ukrainian refugees looking for relatives
Most grandparents I know spend their vacation on the holidays babysitting. They take their grandkids everywhere – plays, nature walks, rafting, museums, etc.
We on the other hand, are dogsitting a very active and homesick dog. The cat is angry. The neighbors are angry.
And all this is a wonderful distraction from the news. Charlie will keep us busy until the weekend.
The weird advantage of this is that I really love dogs, and when we had our enormous dog long ago I composed an answer to a question about him that I had to wait years for someone to ask. At last, the hairdresser came out with just the right questions. “Where does he sleep?” “With us!” “What about the smell?” “He got used to it.”
So we’ll have to fumigate the house when he leaves – before we pack for our vacation – but maybe someone will reward me by asking the right questions.
april 19, 2022 – Dogsitting Read Post »
I quote my child psychologist late mother-in-law over and over – “It all started when he hit me back…” So we get stoned and we get the army in and they get beat up and then we … and then they shoot rockets and then we…
The problem is we’ve got much less tolerance in general and I’m sure they have lost it as well…
april 18, 2022 – jerusalem Read Post »
As we were leaving our friends at the nearby cafe we passed other groups of people talking. It was almost the same conversation we were having – about the violence today in Jerusalem. But we had also been putting it in context. Because of our different professions, we were also discussing a wider view of the society, the level of violence in the schools, in the families, in the courts, in the world of medicine, the sense of unequality in the society. “And why aren’t you, with such a religious background, keeping kosher?” “Because it’s being imposed on me.” And today, Easter Sunday, Ramadan, Passover – even our religions are clashing.
In the world too.
April 17, 2022 – Cafe Talk Read Post »
