israeli politics

For years I have been searching for the story of my mother’s youngest sister and her fate in the partisans.  I write about her everywhere, but there is so much I don’t know.  This new film: FOUR WINTERS – by New Moon Films has made the trailer available here: https://youtu.be/hZNmISQZKY0

and I can’t wait to see it.  The interviews and photographs alone are worth seeing.  What excited me the most, though, was the promise of describing the network of partisans all through the forest during the 4 years of war.  I’ll be looking for dates and times with great anticipation.

partisans on Film – Sept 19, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

This entire area has worlds beneath our worlds.  Today’s Post has a piece about a giant burial cave from the time of Ramses II underneath the park in Palmahim.  Here. Ezi’s father told me about discovering all kinds of things when he was putting in a sewage system underneath Tel Aviv.  The Times of Israel also talks about the cave in Palmachim but also covers a giant mosaic discovered in Gaza.  Who knows what else is down there?  I miss having stopped hiking on the Israel trail if only because of the amazing discoveries like these.  But I don’t miss the dehydration and the footsores.  

 

holes – Sept 18, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

The hole that appeared this afternoon in the highway at the entrance to Tel Aviv has really upset pre-holiday plans for a lot of people.  Apparently, the cause is the underground parking lot construction nearby and so it’s a local problem and can be solved but it makes one realize how fragile the ground we walk on is.  A little over a month ago another hole opened near Gezer, but that was connected to the tunnels of Biblical days.  The earth swallowed up a swimming pool and a man with it as if a reminder from history that even time is fluid.  How amazing that no one was hurt tonight!  How amazing that we adapt to the moving earth, no matter how much danger is around us.

 

 

hole in the highway – sept 17, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

What do you serve the Friday evening before the holidays?  I thought to serve what my late great mother-in-law used to do – Friday night cold cuts on the piano.  Turns out it demands as much preparation as brisket.  And I’m exhausted.

The grocer has warned that if we’re going to be buying for the holidays we’d better get set on Sunday because supplies are running out.  And how does one prepare for three days of non-stop feasting with family and friends…

I don’t even have room for everything I need.  

And I’m not a great cook.  

And certainly not an enthusiastic one.

The whole Jewish mother bit is over-rated

friday before ho Read Post »

israeli politics

There were so many events I promised to participate in in the years before COVID, so many promissory notes that are coming in now, that I am overwhelmed.  And I have a feeling that all these conferences won’t happen anyway, that we’ll have another wave very soon and it will all go back to zoom, or they’ll be postponed again.  Still, I find myself writing lectures and encyclopedia entries instead of enjoying myself with friends.  My old friend in Japan says hodahoda ni – take it easy, be an elderly citizen (and today is elderly citizens day in Japan) but I’ve promised too much, and all I can promise now is that I will try.

And I will try not to care that the smell of war is in the air.

 

overload – sept 15, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

The political and military situation is so disturbing here I find it impossible to read the paper, to watch the news.  Fortunately, the upcoming holiday season is such a distraction that I can talk about recipes.  So for today’s exemplary breakfast I have been enlisted to make a holiday salad – for 40 people – with pomegranates, dates, apples and nuts.  I’m already exhausted 

delay – sept 14, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

Exhausted as I am from this year, I was really pleased that we received so many invitations to celebrate the new year with friends.  But then the invitations were followed by culinary orders, and what with the family holiday dinners we’re also preparing, I am overwhelmed.  Yes, I can do it, and I’ll be sharing some of the recipes we’ve been cooking up (I am an amazing cook when I feel like it – but banal when I don’t) but all I want to do for this holiday is play with my grandchildren for a change.  

So if anyone has an inspiring recipe for a new year’s salad (due tomorrow) I’d really appreciate it.  I’ve got the apples and the pomegranates and will get the dates and lettuce and green onions in the morning.  What else.

 

rosh hashana blues – sept 13,2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

We went in for flu shots this morning, hoping for the flu-zone immunization that is supposed to cover covid too.  Unfortunately, when the nurse looked us up she informed us that we weren’t old and sick enough so we got the regular shots and left disappointed.   I have a strong sense that the information on the computer wasn’t updated, but it may be just connected to the general weltschmerz that accompanies the dangerous security situation we’re in and the inflation that shows no sign of diminishing. 

Or maybe I’ve just got the flu.

 

flu shot – sept 13, 2022 Read Post »