Tel Aviv Diary June 21-5, 2008 - Karen Alkalay-Gut
June 21, 2008
In reading Buber, I came upon a letter by him to Ghandi written in 1939 about palestine here."It seems to me that God does not give any one portion of the earth away, so that the owner may say as God says in the Bible: "For all the earth is Mine" (Exodus 19:5). The conquered land is, in my opinion, only lent even to the conqueror who has settled on it-and God waits to see what he will make of it." It surprised me - didn't know about this part of him. Strangely enough I felt his principles could have been more directly applied to the subject of dialogue, but it does have a point. Martin Buber says elsewhere that “For the inmost growth of the self is not accomplished, as people suppose today, in man’s relation to himself, but in the relation between one and the other, between men, that is, preeminently in the mutuality of the making present – in the making present of another self and the knowledge that one is made present in his own self by the other – together with the mutuality of acceptance, of affirmation and confirmation.” (“Distance and Relation,” Psychiatry, May 1957, 20, #2, 104). Here he's beginning to apply it to peoples, to nations. Maybe he is more specific about this elsewhere, but the idea of learning how to create real dialogue is needed. I know it's getting to be a big subject all over the world, but it still remains a subject on the subject level, not an approach to life. On the contrary, the more we talk about dialogue, the less we seem to talk to each other,
But enough of that - i'm more and more fluey and tend to be more and more crochety when i'm sick.
June 23, 2008
Enough already. Bring back Gilad Shalit Sign Here.
So this morning I;, thinking about the best possible places to see in Tel Aviv and I call up Yakov Garty to ask when the fabulous Tel Aviv University Botanical Gardens are open. And he says, "Meet you at 2 at the gate."It is the hottest day ever in Tel Aviv and the hottest hour ever but it is too exciting an opportunity to miss. So we go for an hour. No more.
We got to see the sausage tree, the orchids, the succulents, the shy mimosa tree, and much more.
Not only did we find the most amazing things growing there, but there was even a bird's nest in a coffee tree and - unbelievably - three birds.
You can take a tour there yourselves. It's only 50 shekel for a guided tour and, as far as I'm concerned, it's the best bargain in the city.
Leaving the family outside with the dog, I go for a little spin in the pharmacy. My medications come to 110 shekel. I say to Chaled at the counter, "According to your ad, if I buy 100 worth of merchandise I can buy a plastic beach bag for 10 shekel. Can I buy 2?" Chaled tries it out on the computer. "No, you can only buy one. Why not just buy the one?" "I have 2 little girls outside." "Of course then you can't buy one. We have enough wars in the world today."
June 23, 2008
Panic is appearing on Thursday night in Levontin 7 at 9.
Managed to get to Pappa'a tonight - the fettucini carbonara was the hit of my day.
June 24,2008
Let's see, what would I do tonight if I didn't have this flu? First, I'd go to the memorial for Aharon Amir tonight in the Einav Center in the municipality. Before that I'd go to the book store in Dizengoff to hear that lecture about Cancer and Nutrition. Before that I'd stop in Pappa's for some profiteroles. And before that I'd get dressed, in black of course.
clothing is very important in Tel Aviv. Just a few examples of the female nature: A longer skirt indicates religious predelictions and a longer skirt with sneakers indicates religious right=wing predelictions.
June 25, 2008
Was it Barbounia (one of my favorite restaurants)? Was it one of the long meetings that could have been compressed into one long email? Was it my lingering flu? Was it my home made dinner? In any case I wound up upchucking the entire evening. Now I'm fine.
I think.