israeli politics

Happy Hanukkah

what a holiday – we had every night planned to meet all kinds of friends, but since I caught the flu and can barely move, much of our activities have been curtailed.  So we’re watching news all day.  

One good thing about it is that because there are so many programs interviewing the hostages I am reminded of the actual facts of the events.  1. Gazans attack villages in the Gaza Envelope, killing babies, children, old people, and whoever they could find.  They also attacked a dance festival.  All in all they murdered 1220 people of all ages, almost all unarmed.

2. This did not make the Israelis love Gazans, and they countered with an air attack.  Since the military in Gaza was hiding in tunnels underneath populated neighborhoods, Israel was forced to announce to people that they must leave the neighborhood so they could bomb the military.  Of course there was civilian damage because the Gazan people were human shields.  3.  The Israeli military thought they were being humane, and took much longer following those rules.  4. But they were convicted of genocide.

5. the Israeli hostages, over 250 of them are scattered all over Gaza, and are constantly moved around through the tunnels – some are released in the furst few months, and some up to two years (one body remains) – all of them starves, beaten, and living in unbearable environments underground.    

5. A ceasefire is arranged by Trump but is constantly been broken.

6. Hamas, once defeated, has been rebuilt, and rules Gaza with an iron hand, keeping the population in check with the usual methods of dictators.

7. another attack from Gaza is predicted in the near future.

 

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israeli politics

A hanukkah memory -12.16.25

whenever we played dreidel on Hanukkah, I would lose.  And my mother would always declare with delight, “farshpilt is nit farnasht” as she gathered he winnings into a pile.  This was always interpreted to me as meaning “Losing isn’t just the loss of a taste.”  it is only with the years and a bit of reading that I understand the saying is far more encouranging.

„דו מיינסט אַז דו האָסט פֿאַרשפּילט דיין גאַנצע לעבן,“ האָט ער געזאָגט שטיל.
„אָבער פֿאַרשפּילט איז ניט פֿאַרנאַשט. אַ מענטש לעבט, אַזוי לאַנג ווי ער קען זיך נאָך אָנהייבן פֿון נײַ.“

says Y.L. Peretz,  something like, “you may have lost, but you can still begin again.”  Like “oib me lebt, derlebt men”  or “if you’re alive, you can live through it”

This is my miracle of Hanukkah now – that we have lived through a lot, and it has made us just a bit wiser, just a bit stronger.   being unvanquished.

 

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israeli politics

Miracles - 12.15.25

Every year we light candles and every year I love them more, but I believe less and less in miracles.  I mean I’d rather be guided to the wisdom to make my own miracles.  Tonight the family is coming for latkes, and it took us most of the day to get it all together, but in a sense the get together is in itself a miracle.  The terrorist attacks that were prevented – miracles.  The growing awareness that “by any means necessary” is connected to ISIS and is dangerous to non-Jews as well as Jews – that’s a miracle too.

the fact that I don’t burn the latkes – THATS A MIRACLE!

 

miracles – 12.14.25. Read Post »

israeli politics

happy Hanukkah - 12.14.25

When I figure out how to coordinate my pictures I’ll show how much the exhibit of German Neo-objectivism is something to learn from.  In the meantime, if you’re in Tel Aviv, it is really worth seeing – it’s at the Tel Aviv Museum.  

Amazing

 

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israeli politics

Bondi Beach -12.14.25

Some people warn the Jews not to gather in large numbers.  But Jews celebrate holidays by gathering.  It’s no coincidence that Judaism is the only religion named not for the divinity, but for the people.  And we may remember Mark Twain’s warning: “Behold, the fool saith, “Put not all thine eggs in the one basket” – which is but a matter of saying, “Scatter your money and your attention”; but the wise man saith, “Pull all your eggs in the one basket and – WATCH THAT BASKET.” – Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar”

I’m sure the Australians will begin to take the threats against Jews seriously from now on.  I’m also sure that the fact that it was a Muslim who prevented further carnage will remind us all – that the antisemitism that has gripped the world is not based on religion.  People without politicians tend to get along. p.s. Islam is named for the act of giving in to the Lord.

 

 

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israeli politics

out of the news - 12.13.25

Joe tells me that we’re not in the news any more.  normally i’d be happy to hear that, but we seem to be getting deeper into danger as the US moves ahead with the second part of the Gaza plan and Hamas is getting more powerful.  Even though one Hamas leader was killed today, they are still controlling the food, killing our soldiers and their people, and threatening us.  

But it is nice to get a sense of normality after so long.  We’re still getting back to meeting old friends, fixing messes I’d  forgotten in the hysteria of keeping everyone safe.  Today we had a wonderful reunion with some great people and talked about plays and movies and art.  how very strange, to have a normal conversation.

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israeli politics

invitation - 12.12.25

i always forget to invite you to these events – readings that tell you something about what is going on here – but through prose and poetry.  Readers include Simon Lichman, Bilthl Freedman, Ann Bar-Dov, and 10 others.  looking forward to seeing you there.

this is the link

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86214190565?pwd=4ljTlbjhusNwmOtxGDxOOtay3tagQW.1

 

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israeli politics

coming out in hebrew - 12.12.25

The product of many years of delightful research, my book on “Here Lie: Poets and Their Graves” is coming out in Hebrew in the next few weeks. 

Why did I pick the subject? It started out when we found ourselves in Newark airport at 5 a.m. and didn’t dare wake up our relatives to visit.  The restaurants were closed, and we weren’t going to sit around and wait for an appropriate time to have breakfast.  So we followed the directions in Allen Ginsberg’s poetry to get to his grave.  It was an abandoned cemetery and dawn was just breaking as we walked through the gates and began to look.   And Ginsberg made it so easy to find!

I began writing an article about the complexities of the grave (there are many) and even did a youtube talk about him,  But when I tried to publish it, I ran into a few strange responses from editors who, I began to realize, were simply jerking me around.  So I published it in Doug Holder’s mag and then in Hebrew in Haaretz and then began a long series.  

At some point I sent the mss in English to Northwestern Pess which began a strange correspondence with the editor – one that made me believe my Israeli identity was making it hard for him to give me a direct response.  It was before the boycott was blatant, but it left me with the strange feeling that I was not wanted anywhere.

So I left the 10 chapter manuscript in English and Hebrew and one day ran into a publisher in the Little Prince who asked me what I was doing.  Apologetically I told him I was writing a book on Kurt Gerron, but had published a draft of it to coincide with an exhibition of a painting of his, and now had to flesh it out.  He pushed a little further and I told him about the “Here lie” project.  

That started it – he got funding, gave me an editor, and last month made us stop our blathering and get on with it because he had received prizes for the book on the condition that the book come out by the end of 2025.  

And it will be out!  A gorgeous cover – all the photographs by my trusty sidekick – Ezi.  And now maybe I’ll even try an English publisher again.

 

 

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