israeli politics

We work with a very glitzy investment firm that has a showy event every year to prove that we should trust them.  First, the CEO explains how wonderful the prospects for the future are, and then some important person is a guest speaker to give us an upbeat idea of how the world is running.  It’s always interesting and even I am floored by the breakfasts on the terrace of the Rabin Museum and the hundreds of attendees. 

But today was a bit different.  For the first time, the CEO’s speech was not about how wonderful we’ve been doing, but about holding on and keeping a steady keel, and the guests – two celebrity news commentators – had some amazing jokes, but nothing good to say about our future.  Nothing bad either – I’m sure they were warned – but not a single word of optimism.  Nothing to mitigate the doom and gloom we are all feeling.  

 

doom & gloom – Dec 16. Read Post »

israeli politics

I know this must be a minor and perhaps boring issue for most people, but as an elder citizen it has become important to me.  I get a bunch of prescription medications – usually without actually seeing the doctor, for a period of three months.  Nobody actually supervises this process, and as a person my age I’m entitled to have it all delivered to my home.  So no one even questions the mix. 

So far it’s been very convenient for me.  I know what to take and when and what not to mix.  But tonight I’d forgotten to ask for a delivery and had to go to the pharmacy myself, and for the first time this year, the pharmacist questioned the mix.  I would have liked to hug her for being the first to pay attention, but she was a very businesslike person and clearly wouldn’t have appreciated the gesture.

medications-dec 15, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

The prize ceremony at the President’s house was particularly weird for me.  I didn’t know the prizewinners personally but the fact that it was yiddish was enough to make me want to go.  And although the President himself stumbled over the few words he was prepped to say in Yiddish, he acknowledged his limitations with a smile and won the crowd over by admitting them.  

But I couldn’t help thinking about my earlier visits to the residence, about Peres’ knowledge of literature and his intimacy.  There was an enormous crowd and I didn’t even get to shake Herzog’s hand.

Because we were early and the crowd was a bit elderly, we went out to see the busts of all the presidents of this country, and I got Gilad Zuckerman to stand in line with me along with the other presidents.  Maybe I should try to actually get the job… After all, I know more Yiddish than he does…

yiddish – Dec 14, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

While all the dirty bargaining is going on in the government, I take comfort in my friends. The other night it was the wonderful book club I’m part of, which changed my mood from black (politics) to white (wisdom and warmth).

Today too we were bathed in warmth and hope, having gone up to Nazareth to visit a sick friend I was worried about. Against the background of the Christmas tree, the nativity scene, the amazing landscape, and the incredibly beautiful home, we shared a beautiful morning as the recovering patient kept displacing his elegant Persian cat to serve dish after dish of sweets, fruits, liquours, tea, and coffee. When we arrived home, the alley cat who has adopted us greeted us in the parking lot and accompanied us to our apartment, which looked incredibly messy and dingy to me, with our genuinely vintage furniture and our view of other buildings. The cat ate our leftover chopped liver and went to sleep on the bathroom rug as I counted my blessings. But why didn’t I take pictures?

friends – dec 13, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

It’s not only flowers.  Everywhere I go, everything I do that is connected with money – I screw up.  But today’s flowers reminded me.  

Today I wanted to buy poinsettia for a sick friend in Nazareth I’m going to visit in the morning.  At first, I went online to have them delivered tomorrow and the price was 89 shekel.  But somehow I was worried that it would arrive on time, and I decided to go pick them up myself.  Time is money so even though I was charged 150 shekel, I decided it was safer.  And because the container was ugly I bought a straw one for another 50 shekalim.  

On the way back, I thought – what a businesswoman I am.  Just like yesterday, when I signed a contract to publish a book that would cost me an inordinate amount of money because I thought that the ms. has been laying around a long time, I was too tired to look for a publisher, and considered that all things considered, publishing it with them would cover all my problems and leave me free to write a new book.  And then I transferred the major portion of the sum.  

That’s when I began worrying about the exact definition of words in the contract and realized that certain things were not included.  It was like the plant I bought for too much.  And I remembered the first rule of opticians – They put the glasses on the customer and say, “That is 1$100. ”  If the customer doesn’t blink, he says, “That will be for the frames.  The lenses are another $100.”  And if the customer still doesn’t blink, he says “each.”

This is the way our politics has been working on Bibi,  So I’m not the only sucker in the world.

But if you want to pre-order a book in Hebrew that my publisher said was incredibly innovative and exciting (before I paid her), it’s 60 shekalim.

 

 

 

flowers – dec 12, 2022 Read Post »

israeli politics

A few days ago at an IAWE board meeting, someone suggested we have an evening on Leonard Cohen, so while we were babysitting a hyperactive dog today, we watched the movie of Hallelujah.  The religious Jewish element seems so strong to me – and each word of the prayers is taken seriously, as a way to understand the self in the universe. .  So unlike the new religious government we’re about to have  here, which is about imposing behavior and not understanding.

 

halleluya Read Post »

israeli politics

This world cup is broadcast live on the main channel here – And with every game, I see how much politics is not only in the players but also the viewers.  I judge the game not on the playing but on the nationality.  I don’t condemn the dirty players, but the policies of their leaders.  I don’t seem to be the only one.  I know this is wrong, but it is on one hand a channeling, a displacement from actual battles, but on the other hand a reminder of our own disagreements.  A friend of mine relates every game to the way Jews were/are treated in the countries of the teams.  The Holocaust and the Middle East are major factors.

football unites – Read Post »

israeli politics

Churchill is dead.  When Ezi told me I said “he is released”  The last times I saw him, he had something in his brain and he was weak and barely communicative, but He was still a musician to watch.  I’m so sorry we;re going   to miss him.

Churchill – Dec 8, 2022 Read Post »