Since my friends who don’t live here think we’re calming down around here, I thought I’d straighten out the picture. Lots of people are in denial, but lots of people are also expecting a big revenge for embarassing a great country.
Vesuvius is acting up, scary earthquakes in Japan, Iran is putting itself together with some big help from their friends, and our US buddies are as tired as we are.
sleep well.
calming down? – 6.30.25 Read Post »
Many years ago there was a PEN chapter in Israel. It disappeared along with the Federation of Writers’ Unions in Israel about 30 years ago when the government stopped funding over bad management, but since then I’ve been involved in at least 2 attempts to get ourselves together and apply for membership – but both times people weren’t willing to put in the time and effort demanded. And how to get all these divergent people and languages in this country together. And who needs all the complicated politics anyway. Way back in 1997 I edited an issue of the journal, PEN Israel in English, and there were entries from Arabic, Russian, Yiddish, and of course Hebrew. But now it would be much more problematic – we’ve grown further apart.
The new international effort of PEN Yiddish, however, is a different story. Because it involves a language not a country, it can bring a newly revitalized language to the fore. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with it.
What should we be writing about? Many of my literary friends can barely write at all in these times. And now I was sent this link to remind me
The Role of Literature today – 6.28.25 Read Post »
one of my little schemes for erasing the trauma of war is to devour the symbols 
so this shabbat we fashioned the challach into a stealth bomber. and i hope it will have some of the proper results – especially since we’re still getting missiles from Yemen.
digesting the war – 6.28.25 Read Post »
Last night I invited some writers in Israel for a zoom, just to talk about what they’ve been through. Some were now refugees, some were just exhausted. But it was so good to be with people who had the same experiences, and haven’t been able to speak about it. Maybe with some more encouragement we’ll be able to write. empowerment.
Wake me when it’s over – 6.27.25 Read Post »
I woke up at 4 a.m. sort of, and said, ‘where’s the siren?…there’s missile without the siren!’ Then I went back to sleep. This is an improvement. But I still have a long way to go.
adrenalin – 6.26.25 Read Post »
Lewis Carroll was a mathematician so there is some manner of order in the rabbit hole he describes. I once published an article about his mathematical order in Jabberwocky. Now we have a red queen who is creating a different kind of order….
Rabbit hole – 6.26.25 Read Post »
the feeling of relief that is palpable on the streets is not a feeling of joy or success. it is a moment of awareness, mixed with pain at the loss of the soldiers today in Gaza and the knowledge that there will never be peace with our neighbors as long as we remain alive.
Still we managed to get out and enjoy ourselves – bought an orange t-shirt and ate at Akiko. I had saved the day for my daughter’s birthday but she was otherwise occupied and I really didn’t want to infect my pessimism on children anyway. I’d rather infect you.
I know that our victory over Iran has been great, and books are already being written about the amazing military powers we exhibited, but we cannot acknowledge our powers so as not to insult the other nations involved in this fracas.
Should the Gaza mess get solved, I’m sure my heart would ease.
