israeli politics

Mourn and celebrate - 3.9.26

Talking to my brother in the US yesterday, I realize how little people in the US know about this part of the world.  Of course, they have their own part of the world to worry about – but not to know about the depth of despair and heights of joy we experience here seems a bit much.  While our government is working hard now to destroy what is left of democracy, the freed hostages are describing the absolute torture – almost unknown in today’s civilization – that they encountered.  

When we were children in Rochester, the existence of Israel was something to be celebrated constantly.  It was not only Independence Day that was a celebration, it was every day.  We sent packages of clothes, letters of encouragement in the Scouts, planted trees, and, above all, bought bonds.  My mother would get plaques and presents for the millions of dollars of bonds she sold, and every visitor from Israel was pressed for news of developments.  Of course we put pennies into the JNF boxes, and praised every achievement loudly – whether it was a plane or a earring.  My socialist father and religious mother were one on this issue.  Israel had to exist, to thrive, after what they had been through.

So when I was asked whether there were still rockets on Tel Aviv, and what I did to fill up my time, the amazement came to me gradually.  I described by 14 year old grandson’s first aid course in detail – the tests on triage, the hands-on exam for which I was patient , the sewing and cooking classes of his sister which are becoming necessary, and I realized that we are living in different worlds.  That we’re trying to stay alive, and few people around the world understand this.  My other grand children too live with stark and intense purposes.  Their talk is of what they do in the army, or what they will do. 

So when my sister-in-law asked, what do I do to fill up my time, I thought how different my answer would be from the expected.  I know her time is very full, and health and exercise very important, and of course I try when I can to do that too.  But I talk politics, I demonstrate when I can, I write politics, I try to keep a house going – and I celebrate – whenever I can.

Our lives are of mourning and celebrating and survival.  And they are very rich.  I’m not complaining.

mourn and celebrate -3.9.25 Read Post »

israeli politics

demonstrate - 3.8.25

We woke up with the intention to demonstrate tonight, to be with the families of the hostages still in Gaza.  It is not a simple task – the overwhelming emotion that each person there feels is something I doubt if any normal human being should have to bear.  Even being near them is painful, and yet absolutely necessary – not because it will help, but because we need to feel that we are human beings who cannot tolerate the situation this country is in.

There were times when I felt the only person with a soul in the government was Danny Hagari, who explained every evening what was happening in Gaza, and in the north.  And now he has quit, because he was not promoted as he should have been, and he has no future in the army.  

And suddenly I felt there was no one to speak to at all.

demonstrate – 3.8.25 Read Post »

israeli politics

concert in jeans - 3.6.25

Our usual concerts are becoming less and less stuffy, now that our conductor is young and exciting, but tonight we changed the series and discovered the jeans concerts are even more fun – beer before the show, Rafi Gamzu introduces and explains, the hall is filled with intelligent and younger people (who can afford to stay up later.) and there is a wonderful atmosphere of excitement.  i love it.

The excitement was magnified by Prokofieff’s “Hebrew Melodies.”

concert in Jeans – 3.6.25 Read Post »

israeli politics

Whatever it was that made me agree to read poems in a shopping center tonight, it didn’t do me good. What did me good was Simon Lichman by my side – looking at my poems andfixing a word here and there – with a magical touch that negated all the pathos of the event.

And the taste that came back to me for reading again. Watch out, I’m going to be doing readings if there is a demand.

Reading poems 4.3.25 Read Post »

israeli politics

real grief in Israel - 3.3.25

Because the film A Real Grief

didn’t seem to get much of a showing, we almost missed it.  Maybe we just didn’t read the ads closely enough.  But we found out it was playing in Dizengoff Center this afternoon, so we dropped everything and went.  

The theater was almost empty, and the woman next to me kept turning on her phone, so I kept comparing the people on the holocaust trip on screen to the people in the audience. How has Israel been affected by the holocaust – really?  We have connected the events of October 7 with the holocaust so intimately we can’t really absorb the “merely psychological” reactions to the trauma.  Perhaps we really need to discuss some of this internationally.  The pain on both sides is really great.

real grief in Israel 3.3.25 Read Post »

israeli politics

A Supermarket in Tel Aviv - 2.3.25

Hungry for images, as Ginsberg writes, we went to the supermarket.  As many of you know, I have avoided supermarkets years, primarily because of my back, and I prefer to order online, but lately I’ve become less efficient and wind up having to supplement my stores.  

As a holocaust-influenced shopper, and a survivor of many wars  like most people in Israel, I am constantly tempted to overbuy, fearful that even the shops will run out of products.  During the ’73 war, when we had no eggs, my mother sent us powdered eggs, along with cans of tuna, powdered milk, etc.  even though I was driving around the country and getting supplies for all my neighbors.  I went to TAdiran in Holon for batteries, one farm for eggs, another for milk, and so on.  Clearly it’s an obsession learned from my family and reinforced by my experience here.  

So I usually go to a supermarket and go wild. 

But today, the only thing that could ignite my interest was vegetables.  vegetables and fruit.  There just isn’t anything exciting. The products all seem to be brand x, brands I’ve never seen before.  It’s like a poor imitation of last year.  

Maybe it’s only me.  I mean there are all kinds of nice things I don’t remember from long ago.  The Russian checkout ladies used to be rigid and domineering, and now they are nice, even point out how we can save more money on sales we might not have noticed, provide recipes, find discounts.  

So I didn’t get images, but I did see a lot that told me about what’s going on in our economy.

 

a Supermarket in Tel Aviv – 2.3.25 Read Post »