April 14, 2018
So many conversations in one day - on so many subjects. The last one was about fixing my computer. no, it was the long conversation about religion after the guy fixed my computer. and showed me how to use the netflix account i've had for years. and by the time we were finished shabbat was over. before that there was a discussion about the program on clothes a poet friend and i decided to cancel because of the technical complications. and in the morning we spoke of life in the town of Bat Shlomo while looking at the immense view of the galilee.
Not once did anyone mention planes, drones, chemical weapons, or any of the words that determine our lives today.
April 15, 2018
Today was my mother's birthday, so i'm dedicating this list of reviews of Yerusha to her.
April 16, 2018
For the past 2 years I've been leading a little book club that consists of English teachers from all over the country. We've talked about all kinds of books, mostly bestsellers, and it forces me to read and discover new things. it is always surprising to listen to the opinions of people from everywhere talk about books, but to hear them discussing Pride and Prejudice was amazing. Everyone seemed to come from families who valued class and family and propriety - Jews from all over and with all kinds of religious background, Arabs of Christian as well as Moslem cultures, all agreed about the need for appropriate marriages.
April 17, 2018
We just sat there at the dinner table at the siren. I'd forgotten for a second that it was Memorial Day and our guests from out of the country weren't totally clear about it, so i didn't stand up. But a vision of all those lost flashed before me. What a terrible and absolutely imperative day awaits us.
April 18, 2018
When a photographer told me today that he had photographed the alternative memorial service last night, and the right wing protesters threw bottles at him and his crew as well as to the extreme left behind him, my heart literally sunk. I have been reading James Comey's latest book about values and ethics and even though his critics may be right about his self-righteousness, I cannot believe in a life without values - the highest being human dignity.
And yet i am watching the ceremony of Independence Day on television. I know that Miri Regev, our minister of culture in charge of the ceremony, moved the parliament members to the back so that she could be seen by the cameras seated up front with Sara Netanyahu - meaning the ceremony is far more staged and fake than the wonderful musical we saw three days ago of "Chorus Line". But I also know what should have been there, what is in the hearts of so many citizens who saw and see this country as the fulfillment of so many dreams of refuge, of humanism, of modesty and dignity, and despite this travesty those hearts still speak to me.
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