What does ‘fitness’ have to do with Tel Aviv?  Only recently have I been putting together a few facts about people around me and wondering whether they come together in some kind of thesis.  First, all the men I know in Tel Aviv seem to work towards some measure of fitness.  Women too try to be fit but they seem more worried about looking good than health.  And all my kids and grandchildren seem to be involved in some kind of sport.  

What about me?  For years I suffered from severe back and knee pain.  When the orthopedist found nothing much wrong with my spinal cord,  I was prescribed injections from the pain clinic and then hip replacements from another orthopedist.  I also began wearing Apos shoes which pretty much erased my knee problems.  But it wasn’t enough for me.  I upgraded my Apos to a more personal level, with an app and monthly visits to the PT guy.  Why is mobility and fitness so important to me when what I’d really like to do is sit at my desk and write and read?  Aren’t Jews supposed to be the people of the book?  Does it have to do with the Holocaust?  With the many terrorist attacks and rockets?  with the need for constant defense?