It is something I think about often – in the middle of the most joyful of celebrations. I know I am privileged to have these moments of joy, that my fate could well have been that of my cousins and my grandmothers.  Today may be one of our last times to swim in the sea this season, but I promise I’m going to enjoy it with all my heart – because I know how lucky I am.  It’s this moment that is perfect.

And a few hours later I can assure you that I did, indeed, enjoy it.  Not only the sea, the hummus, the beer, and the happy-go-lucky waiters, but also the mix of people.  Most of the fun lovers have gone back to school and work and the beach and promenade was left to the serious people.  1. the joggers and the runners.  Among the usual bourgoise joggers was a group of fifty boys in black who ran about 5 kilometers and back.  Meira said that maybe they were commemorating Babi Yar, but I think they were just in training for the army.  2. the lovers.  There are always couples sitting on the benches and maybe kissing, but for the first time I saw religious couples – boys in suits s and the strings of their tsitsit showing from under their jackets walking along at a proper distance from the girls in long flowing dresses.  3. the old Arab ladies out for an evening stroll, with canes.  The last was most significant to me because I had just come from a swim and was wearing only a tunic over my bathing suit and the woman stopped in her tracks to give me a disapproving look.  I think she was about to lecture me on modesty but I just nodded a greeting and kept walking.  Her look will enter my dreams tonight.    It was not a political disapproval, but a moral one – and I loved her for it.

 

Oh, shoot.  Now that I’ve said that, I’ll probably get bitten by a crab….