I watch him on tv enjoying dinner with his wife on vacation (how many have there been this summer?) and I cannot imagine how he thinks this summer will end. Can he see any realistic conclusion? Is he prepared to grab the plane he bought years ago with government money and head to Panama? What devious plot could he possibly have to sacrifice this country and save himself?
how does he think it will end? August 16, 2023 Read Post »
don’t worry. Nasrallah is not going to attack us now. That would be the only think that would unite us, and he knows if he just waits, he won’t have to attack…
I watch his face as he pretends to threaten us – he’s happy, almost thrilled, at our behavior.
war – august 15, 2023 Read Post »
who died this March, keeps speaking to me in Yiddish. I think she wrote this when she was 98 and I translated it and forgot about it. Today I found it on my desktop. Did I publish it? I have no idea:
A word
The words wait
until they can wait no longer
and reveal a tear
uttered in the silence of night,
a plea.
Lord God, hear what these words say
hours from now,
years from now,
as if the soul would speak
in a night-time language
to be heard, understood.
A word should be like a kiss
given alone.
Then it brings the morning
Sheltered from sun –
May the word to the morning
bequeath a poem.
a word from Rivka Bassman-Ben Haim Read Post »
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan_Dog#Temperament This is a canaan dog.
This breed was first identified in Israel by Professor Rudolfina Menzel who found them eminently trainable. They’re all over the Middle East, and were considered pariah dogs. Menzel already had much education and experience when she arrived in Israel. She had trained German Shepherds for the German army – in Hebrew. Shev – for ‘sit’.
She knew what she was doing.
So we’re babysitting a canaan dog. You can see how well we’ve trained him.
dogtired- August 14, 2023 Read Post »
i don’t know if all my friends are well-meaning when they write ‘it’s hopeless.’ Are they saying I should be busy packing up my stuff and heading for some welcoming place like the imaginary places of tv series I use for cutting my anxiety about Bibi’s blindness? Or are they trying to remind me that they were right years ago when they said this country couldn’t hold?
I keep thinking of the stage of the Farband building where I used to perform, where Yiddish organizations used to lecture, where conferences were held and declarations were made. It was a scene of chalutzim farming the land.
The pride I took in being on that stage was immeasurable. All the refugees in the room felt that pride as well. At last we could build a home.
why it matters – august 13, 2023 Read Post »
In the worst heat,
with thousands of families on vacation
or looking for a new home,
the crowds continue to come together.
Every week we join
from a different street
and there are different people.
All determined.
enough – august 12, 2023 Read Post »
In case you want to know about how many people feel about this country, here’s a poem I’ve just translated by Rafi Weichert
The Window, Years Later
Through this window, half a century ago, the world was revealed to me. Near, naked, raindrops glistening from the leaves. I remember it washed completely from the heat of summer and dust, standing like an offer over the sign saying ‘”today only”. Since then, many seasons have passed. Tree covered with mist and others appeared entire in that light that enfolds the universe. An automatic blind has been added that I no longer bother to raise, while fires rage without and the world is in flames. With all this, I love it exactly as then, and still love to awaken.
The chapter of this week is Moses prediction of the future. “See,” he says in Deutermonomy 11:26: “I place before you today a blessing and a curse”— He then goes on to explain how fulfilling God’s commandments will bring the blessing, and the curse when they are ignored.
This helps us to understand the ferocity of the religious people to fashion this land into a religious haven, and their hatred of the non-religious.
But what I see is a misunderstood curse and dark days ahead. The curse comes from not fulfilling our ideals, the ideals of equality for all. It’s a question of which commandments we’re talking about. I think Moses was referring to the original 10 commandments and they’re pretty clear. Especially the part about not murdering.
Not coveting is also a good one.
getting ready for the dark – august 11, 2023 Read Post »
