Living Our Daily Lives

We have not written on the blog for several weeks; we keep looking for special events or news items about which to write. There are daily news items that we imagine you read about in the press, but no major developments
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There is talk that Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier in captivity now for three years, will be transferred to Egypt from Gaza as a first step toward his release. So far, no firm moves have been made.

There are reports that a significant number of road blocks in the West Bank have been removed, allowing Palestinians more freedom of movement. The road blocks between Israel and the West Bank remain in place.

The issue of a "settlement freeze" is still unresolved, at least to American satisfaction.

We pay attention to the continuing developments in Iran. They are happening almost in our back yard.

Even with all of these items getting our attention, Pat and I continue to enjoy life in Haifa. It is great not being a tourist; just living our daily lives. Certainly not dull or boring, really quite relaxing and refreshing.

I get plenty of exercise which is good for the neuropathy in my feet. Three times a week at the gym with a personal trainer; walking to shopping, to the bus, to the synagogue, doing errands. I was asked to teach a course at our synagogue (in English). I'm teaching five sessions on the "Book of Jonah". I plan to teach the same subject at Duke this fall. It is very interesting and challenging to teach to a group of students who certainly have familiarity with Hebrew and add English commentary. Quite different from the students I have at Duke. The sixth session will be our rabbi teaching on the parallels between the book of Jonah and Pinnociho!

Pat is very involved with photography. Her camera goes with her on her neighborhood walks and when we go places. She also regularly chants from the Torah at our Shabbat morning services.

We both continue to have counseling sessions with our counselors back in Chapel Hill, thanks to Skype and relatively inexpensive phone rates. Pat also counsels here with Israeli counselors.

On Sunday we will be going to Jerusalem for two weeks of study with 100 rabbis and educators from the US at the Hartman Institute. We'll be studying classical Hebrew texts each morning in small groups; there will be electives to choose from in the afternoon and programs each evening. We have been participating in this program each summer for more than 15 years and have developed some friendships and connections with other participants. Rabbi Sager, from Beth El, is also a regular participant. A highlight for us is to get together with him after evening programs and talk about the day in our Jerusalem apartment.

Our lives here are as full as we want them to be. We have made friends with folks from the synagogue. Pat has connections with people whom she has known here for more than twenty-five years. They are all eager to spend time with us.

We are truly fortunate to have this opportunity to be part of the life of this country. Israel, with all of its problems, has an important place in our hearts and minds. In some very deep way, it is another home.

Frank

And from Pat: here are some experiments, just messing around with Photoshop. All these are distortions of actual pictures I've taken...