Some Second Thoughts

In this morning's English Edition of Ha-aretz, one of Israel's major newspapers, I read several articles which I found disturbing. The first appeared on the front page, and it told of a Facebook group that is calling for the boycott of Achinoam Nini, one of Israel's major singers, who sang last week at an alternative Memorial Day event for bereaved Jewish and Palestinian families. She did not take this posting lying down. She wrote her own Facebook response in which she said that she sang at an alternative ceremony at which Jews and Arabs remember and cry together for their loved ones in the ongoing war between Israel and her neighbors.

The second is a column entitled "No Joy, No Pride" written by the columnist Rachel Neiman. In her column she writes that she grew up with all the early stories about the founding of Israel. A state had been founded after a steadfast fight against our enemies, and because Israel was in the right. Not a word was ever said about what happened to the people who were forced to leave as a consequence of Israel's founding. Now, she writes, on the day of the holiday she remembers their dead. I also remember the way their refugees fled in the desert, and how they were pulled from their dwellings in south Tel Aviv. She wonders whether Israel, as a nation-state will always be based on the need to base its nationalism on its enemies at home and abroad. She would like to be happy with her Israeliness, but she feels like a stranger in this country that has walls and fences in its heart, and she can find neither joy or pride in her own heart.

I felt compelled to include these thoughts so that you can see that these days are not all flag waving and patriotism.

Frank

Pictures

Pictures and Words

Frank has captured the mood of the last week well in his column below. On the Memorial Day for Israel Soldiers I spoke about Gregory at the memorial on the kibbutz and I read a poem by Yehuda Amichai, probably the best known of Israel's 20th century poets. This poem is the 3rd in a series of poems entitled "And Who Will Remember the Rememberers?" This is my translation:

And how do we stand at a memorial ceremony?
Straight or bent over,
In tension like a tent or sloppy as in grief,
With head bowed as if guilty or head held high in protest against death,
With eyes gaping and frozen as the eyes of the dead
Or closed, to see the stars within.
And what is the best hour to remember?
At mid-day when the shadow is hidden beneath our feet, or at dusk
When shadows grow long, like yearning
That has no beginning and no end, like God?

In Israel, Independence Day follows immediately Memorial Day to acknowledge the fact that Israel's independence and existence as a country has been at the cost of the lives of over 22,000 soldiers. It is a very difficult time and the whole country is involved. The heaviness of Memorial Day is felt by everyone -- the television is only about stories of sacrifice and loss and the radio plays old beloved songs all day and all night. Restaurants and movies are closed. And then, at 8:00 at night there is a national ceremony televised from the large military ceremony on Mount Hertzel with speeches and fireworks and celebration to begin Independence Day.

Another national custom on Memorial Day is a cook-out. We had a marvelous cookout and the children fanned the coals with paddles usually used to play Beach Bats. So below is a picture of them fanning the fire. Another picture shows what we ate before it was cooked -- skewers with chicken. Delicious food! I've posted several other pictures taken on our trip the next day. We went to a mountain, Har Bental, and there we found a coffee shop. The picture of the sign is very clever -- the word in Hebrew is "Anan" which means cloud. Because it was coffee on the mountain in the cloud...Coffee Anan......

Enjoy!
Pat

New Sacred Moments on the Jewish Calendar

There are seven weeks between Passover and the next Jewish holiday, Shavuot. In the middle of this time there are three new sacred moments which reflect Jewish history of the 20th and 21st century, Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, Yom Hazikaron, Israel's Memorial Day, and Yom Ha-Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day.

For the most part, these days receive only passing notice in the Jewish community in America. Yes, there are planned services and programs but usually only those people participate who feel somehow specially connected to these moments.

How different it is here in Israel! The whole country takes note and the mood of these moments is reflected in the rhythm of daily life on these particular days. On the eve of Yom Hashoah, all places of entertainment close and remain closed for the next twenty-four hours; all Israeli television stations go silent; there are services and memorial tributes throughout the country. On the day itself, at precisely 11 AM, sirens sound throughout the country and everything and everybody comes to a stop and stands in silent tribute in memory of all the martyrs who lost their lives in the Holocaust.

A week later we observe Yom Hazikaron and Independence Day. One follows right after the other, a unique experience. On Yom Hazikaron we in Israel remember the more than 20,000 young men and women who have given their lives in defense of the country. Again television programs go dark or they present appropriate programming, one channel spends the time broadcasting the names of all the fallen and when they died; places of entertainment again curtail their activities; there is a somber mood in the country,

Pat and I observed Yom Hazikaron on Kibbutz Gazit where Pat's son Greg is buried. He was killed in the first Lebanon war, now 30 years ago. Early in the morning we left Haifa and drove to the kibbutz. At 11 Am the sirens sounded once more and the country came to a halt again, this time in memory of the fallen soldiers. At the kibbutz there was a moving ceremony in which representatives of the families of the seven soldiers from the kibbutz who were killed in Israel's wars spoke about each of them. Yes, Pat spoke as well. She also read a poem by Yehudah Amichai and brought tears to many people. The kibbutz has created a special memorial wall on which the names are inscribed and the soldiers are buried in a special part of the kibbutz cemetery which is maintained by the army. When Greg was killed there were only three graves!

After the ceremony we stayed and shared lunch with some of the people on the kibbutz whom we have known all these years. Late in the afternoon we drove north to Rosh Pinah, a wonderful Israeli town, founded more than 130 years ago where we had rented a "zimmer", a room together with two families, children of Pat's closest friend here in Israel who died a number of years ago. As night fell the mood changed and Israel Independence Day began. The tradition is to have a bar-b-q or cook-out. That is what we did as well. Then we made our way to the center of town for a festival program, fireworks, and dancing. We were there til almost midnight.

The next day we were out on a "tiyul", a hike. We went first to Tel Dan nature preserve where we saw water rushing down the mountain and had lunch. Then we drove to the Golan Heights and stopped at Har Bental where we could look at Syria and the border. We were only 60 miles from Damascus! A fabulous way to spend the day and hundreds of other Israelis were doing the same thing. Not at all the way we spend Memorial Day in America!

Wow! I have written a lot. As you see we are very much part of life here. What a blessing to be comfortable in two homes.

Frank

Two more...

Two more.....the big gorgeous lilies with the fish, of course, are balloons....

The Flower Exhibition

I confess that I am not so good this year at adding to the blog. It isn't that I don't think about it -- I do. And we are doing plenty that is interesting and blog-worthy! But perhaps that's the issue -- we have so much going on these days that we don't have time to sit down and write about it.

But we did go to this fabulous flower exhibition here in Haifa about 10 days ago. We had heard that it was too crowded, that you had to wait in lines for hours, that there was no parking, etc., so I had zero expectations, but we went at 5 in the afternoon on Shabbat afternoon and it was just great. Lots of people but not too many -- no lines. There were nine "pavilions" -- structures that from the outside looked like half a sphere, and within these there were incredible flowers arranged so beautifully that you kind of couldn't believe it. We were there on the last day of the exhibit, but every flower was as fresh as if it were picked that morning. I tried once to write about this and to scatter pictures in the text, but I can't figure out how to do that and make it come out right, so I am just going to publish the pictures below. Enjoy!!! (Well, looks like they are coming out above!)

Pat

Pesach Cooking

Whew!! It's been a big week for cooking. At our home on Mount Bolus Road in Chapel Hill we had a whole set of dishes, pots and pans, silverware, etc. dedicated to Passover. Now it's all stored in our locker at Carol Woods. Here, of course, we don't have anything dedicated to Passover. But I did have a set of dishes from when I came here in the 80's that we haven't used since then, so I figured they would be good enough so I washed them in the dishwasher on a very hot cycle and pronounced them fine for Passover. Likewise knives, forks, spoons, etc. Poured boiling water into all the cooking pots and cake pans. Ritual sanctification! And everything was on the counter tops. So we definitely had the feeling that we were not in our usual routine.

For those readers not familiar with Passover (Pesach) customs -- Ashkenazi Jews do not eat anything during the week of Passover that could possibly be made into flour. So the only thing you can use is matzah meal. No corn, beans, rice, grains. Just matzah. Basically you can eat fruit and vegetables, meat, eggs, and milk products, and anything you can make out of matzah. Turns out you can make some very good stuff!

We had three different evenings with company during the week. On Monday we had Avi and Batsheva Hill Mizrachi and their three great boys; on Thursday we had the Gavriely family including assorted boyfriends and girlfriends and on Friday we were delighted to host Adam and Elianna Goldstein, friends from Chapel Hill. Elianna is on a program for high-schoolers here and Adam is visiting her.

So. Over the course of the week I used 5 1/2 dozen eggs, 2/3 of a liter of canola oil, nearly a kilo of sugar, and a lot of matzah meal. Everything uses the same ingredients -- matzah balls (matzah meal, eggs, oil, salt, water), Passover popovers (matzah meal, eggs, oil, salt, water and a little sugar), sponge cake (matzah meal, 8 eggs [!], oil, salt, sugar), pashtida (eggs, mushrooms, onions, oil, salt, matzah meal [just a little]).....you get the picture. I did have a great time cooking and a great time having people over. It was a very good week.

This evening Frank and I went to the Flower Exhibit. Every year they have one in Israel, in different places, and this year it is in Haifa, down by the sea. I had heard disappointing things about it -- horribly crowded, you can't park, you have to wait in line hours to get into the pavilions, etc, so I had very low expetations, but our friend Eti had gotten tickets so we went. We must have had extraordinary luck because we found a place to park, there were no long lines, and the exhibits were spectacular!!! It was just gorgeous. There were nine of these "pavilions" -- huge tents, really, very dark and lit up, and the exhibits were incredible. Tomorrow I will put pictures up so you can see for yourselves...

So since I had such a good time during Pesach, I was kind of sorry to see it end and we still haven't had any bread just because we don't have any. Tomorrow...

Pat

Tuesday at the old train station in Neve Tzedek, Tel Aviv

Pesach week is vacation time here in the schools and in many offices. So, people take the opportunity to go on outings as a family. The roads in most parts of the country, especially around tourist sites, are jammed. Everywhere parking lots are full. Would you believe that gas here costs $7.90 cents a gallon!

We joined in the spirit and went by car to Tel Aviv, to the old railway railway station at Neve Tzedek which had been turned into a square with shops and vendors, to meet a long time friend of Pat's, Ruti, and her seven year old son. Pat had purchased a GPS for Israel. This certainly helped us enroute.

As expected, the place was crowded, families with children, tourists from the nearby hotels, young and old, out and about, enjoying the sunshine and spring warmth. There was a puppet show for children, there were places to eat, there were shops and displays by local artists. there seemed to be something for everyone. Pat took some pictures and we spent time with Ruti catching up on our lives. We had not seen each other for almost three years.

Then the time came to make our way back to Haifa. Along with many others, we made our way, bumper to bumper along Tel Aviv"s hotel row, which somehow reminded me of Miami Beach. There were hotels of all sizes, huge towering structures with well known names next to small two or three story buildings which had been made into small hotels. When we crossed the Yarkon River we seemed to leave old Tel Aviv behind and were greeted by towering, modern, apartment complexes.

The traffic jam continued for miles (kilometers). Finally the traffic thinned out as we approached Haifa. We both agreed that we needed today (Wednesday) just to be at home and take it easy. We look forward to celebrating the last days of Pesach with friends here.

Frank

Celebrating Pesach in Israel

The festival of Pesach began Friday evening. Here in Israel the holiday is celebrated for seven days. Outside of Israel it is celebrated for eight days. The major celebration is the Seder. In Israel Jews celebrate only one Seder. For the first time in many years I was a guest and was not responsible for leading. What a treat! We were invited to celebrate with friends and their family. It really was a most unusual group. Around the Seder table were Israeli Jews, a Jewish Russian immigrant, a Jewish Holocaust survivor living now for many years in Israel, a Christian Arab and a Christian German woman.

There are a variety of customs that accompany each Seder, depending on the cultural traditions of the family. At our Seder we had several variations. When it came time to taste fruit of the earth, options included boiled potato slices or celery, each dipped in salt water. The potato reminds us there were places and times when there was no green to eat or taste.

At each Seder there is a cup of wine set aside for Elijah, whose role is to forecast the coming of the Messiah. At our Seder we also had a cup of water for Miriam, sister of Moses, whose well accompanied the Israelites on their journey. Water played a significant role in the early history of the wandering of the Israelites. Both the parting of the Reed Sea for Moses and the opening of the Jordan River for Joshua enabled the Israelites to eventually reach the Promised Land. Since this was a vegetarian Seder, the lamb shank bone on the Seder plate was replaced by a beet. Our Seder also was multi-lingual, using both Hebrew and English.

The most moving part of the Seder for me was hearing the stories of the woman who was an immigrant from Russia and the man who was a survivor of the Holocaust.

The woman had come to Israel with her daughter. The daughter grew up in Israel, eventually studied to become a Rabbi and now serves a congregation in California.
The man upon arriving in Israel, served in the Israeli Army during the War of Independence,
went on to teach for years in the Israeli school system and now is living in retirement here in Haifa.
It is stories such as these that continue to make this ancient festival relevantfor us today.

We had a most joyful and meaningful beginning to our Pesach celebration!

Frank

We are here. We arrived 10 days ago, just barely making the plane from Newark to Tel Aviv, and our bags followed us three days later. Not a problem; they have stores here! It was so good just to be here. At first the weather was quite cold and we sat around bundled up in sweaters and scarves, but since two days ago it has gotten warm and today it was hot. Shorts and t-shirts everywhere. It is the day before Pesach so there are lots of people out and about, lots of traffic. The grocery stores were jammed today -- no surprise.

The place where I was going to rent a car required a current license, of course, so I spent three days this week trying to get my drivers' license renewed. I did not succeed. My license had lapsed because I have not been here for nearly three years now. So I got the form that I knew needed to be completed, first with an eye exam at the local optometrist, then to a place to get passport photos taken, and then I had to go to a physician to get an ok that I am fit to drive. My physician, however, was not where she usually is and first I had to find her and then I had to get there, for now she is in an office that takes three buses to get to. Fortunately my friend Hedy took me. I got there and gave the receptionist the form and paid the required amount and promised to return the next day to pick up the form. But the receptionist called to say that the doctor wanted to see me (of course, she hasn't seen me for 2 1/2 years) and before I could do that I had to go to yet another clinic to register because I'd been out of the country for nearly 3 years. So I went to the clinic on the way to the appointment with the doctor, but it was closed. Oy!!! Another taxi to the place where the doctor is and they did allow me to see him (different doctor) and I got the form. Then I went back to the clinic that had been closed and there they told me I can't register properly until I have registered with the Department of the Interior. So I went home, form in hand. The rest could be taken care of later.

That was Tuesday. On Wednesday I very cheerfully took my signed and completed form to the Department of Motor Vehicles, fully expecting to get my license. But no, since I have been out of the country for nearly 3 years I have to take a "theory" test. And I have to do that at yet another office. So I went to the Department of the Interior to try to take care of that, but they were closed. I waited around for two hours, had lunch, and went back, stood in line for another half hour and finally got to see the right guy. But I had not brought my American passport with me so I was sent away empty handed.

So today is Thursday and I decided to just let all of that go. Now the government offices will be closed until after the week of Passover. Meanwhile I took a practice theory test and after 50 questions I had gotten less than half of them right! Looks like I need to study before I take the test...my friend Eti, though, helped me to rent a car with my US passport and so we have wheels. I'm very relieved!

Tonight we ate pizza in preparation for the Passover week when we will be restricted to matzah. Tomorrow night is the Seder. I think that the week ahead will be a much better one -- we will visit several friends around the country. I wish each and every one reading this a happy Passover or a happy Easter or in any event a happy weekend...

Pat