I’m not celebrating – but then i haven’t been celebrating for years: See?
https://www.haaretz.com/life/books/2016-03-21/ty-article/is-the-purim-model-good-for-the-jews/0000017f-f85a-d460-afff-fb7eba160000
israeli politics
israeli politics
I’m getting more and more fascinated with Esther. The way she must have learned to avoid the mistakes Vashti made in the six months she was being trained to compete for queen-ship. The way she took the point of seemingly being subservient to the king, all the way leading the game. The power she exhibited at the end – 750 thousand people killed – amazing.
esther – march 23, 2023 Read Post »
israeli politics
Why don’t girls dress up as Queen Esther? She’s the one who used her wiles to save the Jews of Iran when the book explicitly says the king had just decreed that all the men in Persia should know to rule over their wives. All right, she didn’t operate as a feminist, but she really turned the country around in every way. And all the other women in the book screwed up. Vashti simply wouldn’t follow orders, and Zeresh gave Haman terrible advice, and only Esther turned the rules upside down by keeping her mouth shut until the right moment.
That’s it – I’m putting on my belly dance costume and veiling my face.
queen esther – march 22, 2024 Read Post »
israeli politics
We keep moving forward with the hostage negotiations – or we think we are moving forward – and then they turn around and bring us back to square one. They don’t really want to give up the hostages, and even though we captured 650 Hamas soldiers today, they know we’ll feed them well and give them back eventually, while our elderly, women, and infants die of hunger in Gaza. It feels like negotiating with the devil – and we think we’ll get our souls back, but it doesn’t look good.
On the other hand, we are learning that we’ve got some pretty amazing soldiers – some we thought were only insurance salesmen or animal trainers. And they’ve left their businesses behind and are doing an amazing job.
You’re wondering perhaps why I am not calling for an immediate ceasefire like my friends in the States.
one step back – march 21, 2024 Read Post »
israeli politics
you said this war
destroyed our souls
but to me it is clear
our souls are still here
because they tell us
they are filled with pain.
I have faith our souls
will fill again,
and we will remain
with broken hearts
and a stronger will
to heal.
for Maysoon – March 20, 2024 Read Post »
blog, israeli politics, my life in tel aviv, poetry
You think things are upside-down on Purim? I was walking past all the shops with costumes hanging on the street and thinking that only women get gussied up – or down – with very sexy outfits this year. Considering the way women have been debased from October 7, and have proven themselves worthy of defense positions in the army, I find it ridiculous that they are promoting sexual and not regal wear. And then I remembered the poem from Itzik Manger’s Megillah.
getting ready for purim – march 24, 2024 Read Post »
israeli politics
Some of the people from Gaza who died in the war were featured on the first page of the NYTimes today. It was very moving – all the women and children with their individual stories. No fighters, although by my count there are well over 12,000 Hamas soldiers who have been killed in battle, and a few thousand taken prisoner.
Within Israel, almost all our tv time is taken up with interviews with families of hostages or soldiers, but none of it seems to be of interest abroad. I feel like I know each hostage, can identify each soldier, and know the difficult situation of all the men in reserve duty whose businesses have suffered as a result of their extended absence. I even know some of the wives whose husbands left them with babies and jobs for the war. But their stories are not being shared at all. The government here says it’s because of a lack of English-speaking volunteers. Here we are.
individuals – who they are – march 19, 2024 Read Post »