israeli politics

a few days ago i screwed up my laptop and have had to go to the desktop to write here.  It messed up my spontaneity bad, but I’m getting used to it.  So I have been preparing a lecture about wisdom I will have to give with Mayzun in a few weeks about academic wisdom, and when I complained to Ezi that I had no good example to give of the need for general knowledge and wide vision, he reminded me of the story of Professor Hanan Harari who claimed to have done a survey of prospective students for engineering and asked them “If you had to construct a conduit for blood from ashdod to Eilat what would you have to consider?”    There were many great mechanical answers but no one asked why.

November 7, 2021 – computer woes and blood Read Post »

israeli politics

I used to publish a lot of poetry and translation in the U.S.  It was pretty simple.  I would send in a few poems to a journal, with a stamped self-addressed envelope for the response, and within a few month a journal would appear.  Today the process is much simpler.  Submissions are through submittable and take a second to send out.  But I never get an answer.  Sometimes a standard rejection, but usually nothing.  I used to attribute it to my diminishing talent, but it has become clear that my Israeli address has made a difference.  I am one of the bad guys who chose to remain here even when the “dream” of Zionism developed into something less than desirable.  

And what is my reward?  My Israeli publisher is pretty much ghosting me because I’m not famous anymore.   I know I should go back to my old publishers and renew old ties, but I’m frozen.

Why?  I’m stuck in a land I can’t defend and can’t change.  All I can do is make my own life as humane and poetic as I can, and to try to influence as many others – Jews and Palestinians – to try to come together.   The atmosphere here seems to be changing a bit, and I can do my little part to contribute to it.

But it is a little part, I know.  

 

november 6, 2021 – powerlessness Read Post »

israeli politics

What could I have to worry about, you ask?

Well, there are the problems I can’t solve – like Iran’s multiple attacks on us – in the air, cyber, sea, etc.  Attacks so persistent and aggressive they will succeed in some way at some time to disturb our lives.

Then there’s another problem i can’t succeed in solving – the Palestinian issue.  I can state my opinion and do what I can to alleviate the situation, but that’s all.  So personal attacks on me as an Israeli are painful, but can’t do any good,

What about whether God exists or not?  Can I solve this question/  Well, that one is much easier.  I choose to believe in a Being and I hope that Being believes in me and my attempts to live worthy life.

Problems I really can’t solve – 1. children and grandchildren.  All I can do is cook and invite and listen and pay and go when I’m invited.

2. My computer and it’s relationship to the university.  Maybe I’ll finally get to ask the right questions when I talk to them on Sunday, 

3. My parents’ Yahrzeit/  Of course I observe it.  They passed away on the same day within two years of each other.  I think about them much of the month of November, they miraculous lives, their escapes, their dedication to others, their very tragic deaths.  But I’m far from their graves, from any one who remembers or cares about them.  It is of course the problem of any person who lives far from where he grew up, but I think about it more right now because a friend is dying far away from his family, who too are spread around the world, and the big question is – where will he be buried?  Who will win the opportunity of visiting his grave?

So I have gone from the general to the specific, but all of them are problems….


November 5, 2021 – problems Read Post »

israeli politics

I have to admit I didn’t know anything about Sigd, the national holiday that wasn’t observed here today.  For Ethiopian Jews it’s a major holiday about longing for Zion and I have no idea how a holiday so full of feeling, and declared a national day here since 2008 was never in my consciousness.   

november 4, 2021 – sigd Read Post »

israeli politics

Israel has been functioning without a budget for the past couple of years, apparently in order to keep Bibi in charge.  And now that he is not PM, he’s trying to keep the proposed budget from getting passed.  What does it mean for us?  that maybe we’ll have some order.  and maybe there will be some order in the other communities as well.  Everything is so upside down here – even the supermarket site that I’ve been using online for the past dozen years or so it turns out is favoring the ultra-religious, offering them prices that total more than a third less.  And the ultra-religious schools and communities are said to receive more than double the funding, but it isn’t traceable because there is no budget.  I’m praying the situation is equalized.  I’m sure that most of the society – ultrareligious and not – would prefer an organized method of distributing funding.  

The voting is tonight.

november 3, 2021 – budget Read Post »

israeli politics

what kept us from going to the Dead Sea?  There is something so revitalizing, so relaxing, so pure about that sea.  But we didn’t dare go until the corona numbers were down – and before the tourists arrived en masse.  Tourism began yesterday so I thought we’d be safe.   So today when Oren invited us down for the day, we drove down for two and a half hours, soaked in the saltwater, swam in the pool at the Vert Hotel, had lunch in their dining room, and drove home.  Highly recommended but exhausting.

Oh, as for the visitors, we heard a lot of Russian, some Italian, a little Arabic and Hebrew.  Everyone except Oren seemed to be over 60 – No, wait, there were a few girls who put the rest of us to shame in their tiny bathing suits. Some of the women could have made at least 20 outfits for the girls out of their own swimsuits…

 

 

november 2, 2021 – the Dead sea lives Read Post »

israeli politics

The Wall.  The play we just saw – from the book by Dorit Rabinyan – is about a love affair in New York between an Israeli and a Palestinian that falls apart when they return to Israel and eventually the wall gets built that – in addition to their fading of the romance – keeps the lovers apart.  It had all the right arguments but I kind of wish it ended differently.

And it doesn’t seem to me very strange for two people to fall in love – and even marry if they grow up in the Middle East.  In fact, it is surprising it doesn’t happen moree frequently. 

 

november 1, 2021 – living fence Read Post »

israeli politics

Today is the day we’re letting in tourists for the first time in a long long time.  This means Ezi and I have to start being more careful than we’ve been in recent months.  No matter how strict the rules are, there is going to be a rise in the numbers.

Nevertheless, my need for a change of scenery and a rest from the intensive work involved in leading the IAWE , supervising doctorates, running a household, etc. is absolutely necessary.  We have already taken a leave of absence from this year’s Israel Trail because this year is all about climbing the hills around Jerusalem.   

But I think what we need is a good play this evening and a little visit to the Dead Sea tomorrow.  

Some people here think that traveling abroad is the most important thing they need for their sanity.  It’s a great idea, but we can live well with the relative safety of being tourists in our own land.

november 1, 2021 – tourists! Read Post »