They left flags of Isis along with the decapitated bodies of our children. It was a message to us that they mean business – to slaughter all of us. And now some of them are being treated in our hospitals now.
I can understand why someone would join Isis – after all the flag says “There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is His prophet” which is the prayer of Islam. But they do not represent Islam. Islam does not slaughter babies.
isis flags in kibutzim Read Post »
imagine this – after decapitating a family, the terrorist goes through their pockets, steals their jewelry, money and credit cards for a shopping spree, grabs the play station for the kids, etc. etc. God send Elijah to Ahab and has him say:
murder and benefits Read Post »
My mother managed through the wars by always looking forward. And when things were particularly difficult, don’t think at all about what happened, only if it helps you to understand what will happen. This always helps me in times of war.
So I will not dwell on decapitation of babies in the south, but the need to fortify the defences in the north. Thank goodness my invalid friend in the northern border has been moved to a safe place. She was saying she will die in her living room, the one with a piece of rocket from the gulf war on her sideboard, and I was tortured by that image.
One of my grandsons is volunteering to organize packages to soldiers in the south, one is a soldier, and my daughter is treating people for trauma. But I am doing little except writing, comforting friends, and following the news.
My blue-eyed cardiologist met me this morning because he’s going on reserve duty tomorrow, and although he really concentrated on my heart, I could see the concern in those beautiful eyes.
My mother always said you should keep the people who need to concentrate on defence full of love and power.
mother said – oct 11, 2023 Read Post »
If you write me to ask if i’m okay, and I answer, it means I’m okay at the moment. Any one here might not be okay a moment from now. Rockets are falling indiscriminately, there are still ISIS type guys wandering around the country, and as much as we try to keep things normal, there are dangers all around. So okay doesn’t mean much.
what does okay mean? 0ct 10, 2023 Read Post »
I usually find myself turning the page or changing the channel when the topic is sexual harassment. Not because I’m not interested, but because it makes me remember. Not one incident, but innumerable incidents I really don’t want to recall. Most were involved with bosses or people with power over my situation, doctors, editors, drivers, etc. Most were not overwhelming in their use of physical force. All of them were refused, but all of them creep into my nightmares.
But although I do not find it possible to join demonstrations and only once signed a declaration disapproving the rights of arts to total sexual freedom (which got me cut off my column in Ha’aretz ) I sympathize wherever possible with victims of sexual pressure, and I’ve interviewed about it in the past, but I’ve never been totally active against it. And in those days you did not complain.
january 5, 2022 – Harassment Read Post »
The root canal I’ve been having seems to be taking its toll on me. The first treatment was supposed to be the worst, but I managed to keep going through the day. The second time, a few days later, was a bit harder. I started forgetting simple things – like whether I have a zoom tonight or not. Today I’m forgetting everything else – i even forgot my password for a few hours.
january 4, 2022 – password perfect Read Post »
What a terrible day. Two funerals of people we loved, people who had nothing to do with each other – we were the only mutual connection. One funeral was at 1 and the other at 3. Ezi was still recovering from the vaccine, so when the first funeral finished, we decided to stay and have lunch at the new schnitzel stand at the entrance to the cemetery.
Yes, it is strange to have a cafe next to a cemetery. But as we sat there I began to realize the enormous number of people and cars on the roads before us. A new parking lot did little to contain the cars coming and going and the new cafe, albeit small, was also buzzing.
But the time between the two was very brief, and although we ate quickly, as we sat there with our mouths full of schnitzel, friends began to arrive for the funeral to come. That hunger for sustenance in the face of the death of our loved ones was so inappropriate and yet overwhelming.
We put our masks back on and went into the cemetery, and there was a crowd even bigger than the crowd in the morning.
But it was rushed. Hardly had the speakers finished their elegy before the noise of another funeral began. To speed us up, the hevre kadisha began to wheel out the cart with the body from the cemetery entrance towards the grave. That is when we collapsed.
Ezi said ‘enough’ and we started to head home. But it was turtles all the way. We crawled through traffic jams that made me almost miss my five o’clock zoom. I’m not sure how we will get through all the shiva calls this week – but, as Philip Roth said, at our age shivas are the continuation of cocktail parties.
Now none of these people died of Covid – but a friend has a theory that our situation hastens death – covid-related or not.
January 3, 2022 – Traffic Jam at the cemetery Read Post »
Have I told you already? Ezi received his fourth vaccine today. He had to drive into Tel Aviv and battle the traffic, but once there, there was almost no waiting and he was back home and drinking coffee within an hour and a half.
The rest of the country, it seems, was waiting in line for PCR tests. Not me, I was enjoying myself with a root canal – part 2. And for some reason, it left me totally wasted. Part 1 was the hard part, but as soon as it was over we went to visit a sick friend, but this time was murder. Two more to go.
My friend in Germany suggests that I was taking Ezi’s reaction on myself so that he would not feel the effects of his vaccine. I protest – I have enough troubles of my own.
It will take time before we know if this vaccine works on him, but there is a sense of relief.
And when I finish this teeth thing there will be a sense of relief – You’ll find me eating real food and carrying a much lighter wallet.
january 2, 2021 – 4th vaccine Read Post »
