israeli politics

It has been years since I’ve been on a train, so forgive me if I wax overly enthusiastic about my encounter with public transportation today.  Although it’s more than a twenty-minute walk to the train station from my place, and it took forty minutes to Ashdod, it was an amazing joy to ride on the train and watch the highway right next to me – a literal parking lot.  “I could have been in one of those cars,” I thought, as I leaned back and plugged in my phone.  

It does no good to blame the government for its encouragement of sales of more and more automobiles.  “Where you see jams, I see overpasses” he is said to have said, and built those overpasses with the tax money from car sales.  It does no good to be happy that the policies have changed and roads are being narrowed to allow for bicycle lanes.  We still have to get from here to there, and I for one do not dare to endanger my repaired limbs in streets that intersect with bicycle lanes.  And public transportation is still in its infancy here.  We have a few years to go before the holes in our streets are filled with subways….

 

November 17, 2021 – trains Read Post »

israeli politics

Yitzchak Abergil was convicted of murder today.  Head of a crime syndicate he was accused of numerous murders.

The thing is – I ran into him a number of years ago – or rather, he ran into me.  The road was slippery in the rain and when I stopped for the light, his motorcycle slid into my new PT Cruiser.  Boy was I mad.  But within minutes he won my heart, and there was no immediate damage.  So he left me with his name and number and asked me to call if I found anything wrong.  When I saw his name, I decided not to call – but I went away stunned at the polite and kind gentleman who ran into me in the rain and did everything to soothe me and make sure I didn’t get wet.

november 16, 2021 – yitzchak abergil Read Post »

israeli politics

As if we needed proof that the Maccabis won over the Greeks, we have a new discovery today.  The Jerusalem Post screens the Greek fortress at Lachish that was destroyed by the Maccabis. Click here for it. 

As you probably have heard again and again, one of the aims of archeology in this country is to prove that the bible is history.  And it keeps happening.  You dig where the Bible says something happened and you discovered that indeed it happened.  It is quite amazing.    

This year we decided to take a break from the Israel trail, even though there are most likely many discoveries to make.  The problem is we have to hike to Jerusalem and it is very high up. ..

 

 

 

november 16, 2021 – hannukah coming soon Read Post »

israeli politics

It isn’t shown live on tv, thank goodness, because then everyone would be playing to the audience.  With everyone knowing someone who is involved in the trial, and the natural drama of the event, it would be the greatest show in town.  And this morning is probably the biggest drama yet.  Whether it’s Nir Hefetz or Hadas Klein – two witnesses in different cases against him – today will prove to be a gamechanger.  Wish there was nothing to reveal, but fear the worst.    

november 16, 2021 – netanyahu trial Read Post »

israeli politics

tomorrow this place will be cleaned up.  At last, I’m including someone who knows something about websites to give me some advice about how to make this site more readable.  I know I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me, but sometimes housecleaning is beneficial, even if I lose that old spontaneity in my writing, I may become more readable.

But first, a final kvetch.  Not only did my laptop give up the ghost today, but also we got stuck in a traffic jam that was undeserved.  Here’s the background:

Somehow both Ezi and I contracted a fungus in a toe.  Well, with Ezi I’m sure it was related to his chemo and I caught it from him.  Tired of unsuccessful creams and drops he got hooked by a tiny ad online advertising laser treatment, and dragged me with him.  To the fourth floor of a delapidated building that had a very superficial face-lift.  When I got there I felt like I was in some chinzy fortune-teller’s waiting room, and even though the machines looked real, the women with big turbans seemed to have nothing to do with laser surgery.  We signed up for 10 guaranteed treatments and have now finished 5, but I still feel like it’s totally fake and the cream they give us to use twice a day we have labeled snake oil.  I grumble all the way there and always feel I deserve a lollipop after they burn the nail over and over.  The fact that this treatment seems to be working is irrelevant.  I want to get out of there, go home, eat an outrageous dessert, and forget I was ever there.

But then there was this traffic jam.  A fifteen-minute ride dragged on for over an hour,  and now instead of cleaning up my website I need to take a long and thorough bath.

 

nov 15, 2021 – housecleaning Read Post »

israeli politics

I keep watching the fracas in Soroka hospital that it’s going on right now between Bedouin tribes – how clearly I felt the tension when I was waiting there for Ezi to do an MRI.  I felt at the time that there was no danger to me, but there was danger.  It is terrible to watch senseless violence growing to the point where they are shooting in the entranceways of the hospital.  Anyone could have gotten killed.  

november 14, 2021 – Read Post »

israeli politics

i don’t want to state the obvious but as soon as we started thinking about the Armenian massacre seriously, Israelis started getting arrested for espionage.  enough said

מםהק Read Post »

israeli politics

caesarea – a little food and a little kulchur

We decided to go to the Ralli Museums  this morning because two of our friends are exhibiting there.  We’ve been there before but weren’t terribly excited by the classical collection.  For some reason I didn’t take pictures but it’s an impressive museum, and worth seeing.  I didn’t even take pictures of the exhibits, even though I found Rony Sommek included a poem I’d translated in one of the pictures.  Ronen Shapira’s portraits were impossible to portray because of the lighting reflected in the glass, but they have to be seen to be believed.  And his piano invites inclusion and participation.  See?

Tuned to quarter tones, it immediately changes the way you think about music, about harmony, about the Middle East.  

So much for culture today.  We need much more of it.  But we were also hungry, and I got it into my head that we had to have lunch on the beach at Caesarea.

Now this was not an easy task. Ezi saw the sea of cars in the parking lot and immediately balked.  But I was driven.  We parked, flashed our membership card to the nature society at the entrance, and walked through the crowds to the furthest restaurant – the one I remembered with great fondness from almost 2 years ago, Helena’s.  There was a line of people  who were getting turned away because they hadn’t made reservations but somehow we found ourselves at my favorite corner table by the windows overlooking the sea and the shore.  

What amazing luck we had!  What amazing food.

 

No wonder we were overjoyed to be there.  Everything was perfect, the owner was warm and inviting, the waiter – OH the waiter, Stav – deserved a much bigger tip than the 15% we always give.

I promise next time I will make reservations and bring my whole family and all my friends!  There are very few places that I recommend with all my heart, but Helena’s is one of them.

 

november 13, 2021 – caesarea – Read Post »