Speaking of restraint.

Sometimes I’m amazed at myself, how I threw my fate into the pile with everyone else in Israel. I sit on the bus, and realize I’m one of those ‘everbody else’ sitting on the bus. I stand on-line at the supermarket, and there I am, ‘another somebody’ standing on-line at the supermarket.

And with that, I suppose come the elements that are not as obvious as taking city buses, shopping in supermarkets, paying taxes and living life… These invisible elements that involve either accepting people at face value or looking deeper, trying to understand who everybody really is or making rushed judgments about the people we call ‘our brothers’.

For a long time, I’ve tried to be fair about judging religious and secular. I’ve either reserved judgment or tried to understand where anyone has come from. I found my own self caught in the middle, and to me, that balance was ok.

And now that I’m part of the game, a direct player, not by choice but by association – I no longer find that as easy or simple or comforting.

And it’s taking a lot of restraint to not jump off towards the deep end of no return.