One day we’re in mourning but hopeful, the next day we’re celebrating but wary. No wonder we forget the little things like doctors’ appointment…
Every Day a different Story = 17.10.24 Read Post »
Following the traditions of religion helps to erase the transitoriness of the moment. We were sitting on the balcony discussing what we put into the ‘go bag’ by the door, and listening to the shofar in the next building.
And the shofar is so comforting – connecting this moment to eternity.
For a moment I thought the shofar was a siren, and my friend doesn’t have a shelter.
it’s a relief to come home where i can’t hear the shofar.
How can we feel a holiday? Rockets are falling on us, hostages are being starved, we are being blamed for fighting against armies that have been harrassing us for years and have been planning to eradicate us for decades. I know women who don’t skeep at night fearing rape and mutilation. I know a new mother who holds her baby imagining him in a microwave.
The nightmares don’t diminish. they are not over.
You realize that it is desperation that brings me to write about humor in these crazy days. Today I brought a game to the shelter – rummicup – and we found the playing a relief. But we hadn’t finished the game before the time was over. If there’s only one rocket you wait 10 minutes before you can go out. But the pieces keep falling so it isn’t a good idea to be outside. We figure that in our home we’re okay.
So the only imperative is to wear something.
Anyway I would like advice about a game that can stop in the middle and be continued by others or whoever makes it to the shelter in the future. Especially since we have people coming in from the street. sometimes even the construction workers next door.
Maybe a puzzle…
What to Play in Shelter – 10.14.24 Read Post »
Silly Comedy/Drone tragedy – 13.10.24
The theater is next to the camp of the hostage families. How wierd to go there to see a silly comedy. And yet we went tonight – especially because it was Rivka Michaeli and she deserved every minute of the extensive standing ovation she got for starring in a full length play at 86.
And then we came out and the radio announced 67 wounded and four killed by a drone.
The rest of the evening was spent looking for details.
Silly Comedy, Drone Tragedy-13.10.24 Read Post »
Usually we have no news on Yom Kippur – all media is off and the country is silent except for the children riding the streets on their bicycles, and the people chatting after prayers.
We usually sit in our friends’ garden after prayers, but this time low flying planes zooming in the sky and a distant siren sent us to the shelter.
From friends we learned that 2 low flying rockets entered our air space around 10 p.m. and hit an old age home. If I’m not mistaken the home housed a few of my friends, but apparently no one was hurt.
Then I turned on the tv to the foreign news channels and learned that Israel had injured 4 UN peacekeepers in Lebanon. It was clearly a mistake because there would be no advantage to hitting UN staff since they do absolutely nothing – certainly nothing to keep peace. Why should we bother?
I thought this item was signficant enough to break the silence of Yom Kippur.
bombs over herzlia – yom kippur Read Post »
This is a good day to reconsider everything in our power to change. I know change is possible. I have seen people whose lives were turned around completely – not only those whose lives were destroyed when this war began. I have also seen people whose lives were created, whose values have appeared, whose hearts have grown. When I compare the demonstrators in the U.S. colleges to the volunteers in all the recovery organizations here, I am overwhelmed by the difference. And these people were only two years ago doing as much as possible to avoid interaction with society. Now it’s all about helping, donating, joining.
So I’m thinking about what to change in my life.
hatima tova – 11.10.24 Read Post »
I think it was last month that I responded to Benny Ziffer’s request and sent him some poems in Hebrew for Ha’aretz. I’m not as comfortable in Hebrew as English and when I didn’t hear from him I assumed they were a little too risque or too primitive for him. He didn’t answer but today I got some letters of congratulations – the poems appeared yesterday.
https://www.haaretz.co.il/literature/tarbut-sifrot/2024-10-08/ty-article/.premium/00000192-6ca5-dcf6-abd2-6ff7486c0000
Unfortunately, however, the link only opens to subscribers, so they also appear here.
שירים ב”הארץ” 8.10.2024
שירים ב”הארץ” 8.10.2024
If you have a subscription, please like them there. If you don’t, let me know.
another batch of poems – 10.10.24 Read Post »
