lizrael update

I am not a stationary creature.

Over the past few months, I’ve been watching people come and go from Israel. I haven’t been back to New York in over a year and it’s nearly a year since I left the country at all. If you take a look at my past passports, you know that’s a bit insane.

At this point, I’m holding out for the summer, when I have a couple weddings I’d like to attend. I’d likely stay for a couple months over the holidays. Various family members, however, disagree and want me to visit ASAP.

We will see what happens with regard to New York. I’m losing my patience as far as leaving Israel for a trip to anywhere. I have time and I could have money.

Stay tuned…

Have a wonderful holiday of hidden miracles.

I guess you could say it’s a hidden miracle that we come to Israel single and adventurous and within three years, we end up married, suburban and combating baby spit at a tea party on a Friday afternoon.

Happy Purim!

Tonight’s online rally for Israel and Sederot.

The buzz this week - around the Israel blogosphere, Facebook and my inbox - has been about a campaign called Together 4 Israel, which “is putting together the largest ever online rally in support of those living under fire in Israel. All you need to do is return to this site on Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 11 p.m. Israel Time to watch a live broadcast online of solidarity rallies from around the world.”

The plan is to gather 1,000,000 people across the globe, joining together to watch the rally and show support for Israel and Sderot. Here’s their video pitch. You can view the speaker list and schedule at the site.

It’s Purim tonight, so if you don’t plan on sticking around a computer, you can log on to the site before you head out of the house and you will still be counted for the rally numbers.

I see the value in this for those who will still be fasting for Ta’anit Esther at 11 p.m. Israel time… It’s a nice idea to feel like you are together with thousands of other Jews, hopefully recognizing Esther’s fast and the need to pull together when we face threats.

Note to Israelis: This is what a Kiddush Hashem looks like.

This is dedicated to Israelis of many stripes - mainly the inattentive who go global traveling and give Israel a bad name, the fanatically religious who give Judaism a crazy name, and the extreme outback settlers who give Zionism a psycho name.

There is a better way to be a light unto nations or to attempt tikun olam… And it doesn’t have to involve literature or land. It involves an outlook and dedication that is purely positive, energetic, creative and inspirational.

This Lubavitcher guy from Crown Heights totally gets it and fulfills it within an inner city public school, in a made-for-television story:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7xwCW3dh18]

If we were all as composed and modest as this dude, Israel and Judaism would hold very different powers.

ICQ Toothpaste: Because you never know.

The Israeli hi tech world is alive and…  brushing.

Gizmodo posted that the Israeli software company that created ICQ, the instant messenger we all lost our virginity to, teamed up with an Israeli pharmaceutical company and together have created this bad boy of a Frankenstein:

That’s right, ICQ toothpaste. Why, you inevitably ask?

The Israeli software company that developed the suite before it was purchased by AOL has just partnered with a big Israeli pharmacy company called CTS to release this ICQ toothpaste, which our tipster claims will “help P2P communication (person to person) while reducing bad breath.” (Gizmodo)

Only in Israel.

Another opportunity to volunteer with Sudanese refugees in Israel.

After I posted about volunteer opportunities with Sudanese refugees in Israel, a few people asked me for more details. While I didn’t have them (but did have the contact details of people who did) I now have more information regarding an opportunity to volunteer teaching English to refugees in Tel Aviv:

Looking for volunteers to teach English to Sudanese refugees (mostly from Darfur) living in Tel Aviv. As of now, classes are held on Monday nights but we are open to holding class on other nights as well. All levels of English are taught (advanced, intermediate, beginners and the ABCs). Knowledge of Arabic is extremely helpful in teaching the real beginners but not required.

No previous teaching experience necessary.

If you are interested or know of anyone who might be, please email: Nina722@gmail.com

Ynet thinks it’s Monday.

I’m working really hard to get through this busy week and come out the other end at Purim, and Ynet is trying to hold me back:

C’mon guys. It’s March 18th, Tuesday. I busted my chops to get here, and I’ll be damned if you try and take me back to yesterday.

Today’s word: תאונת דרכים

Here’s what I get to listen to 45293436% of the time while driving home from school. It’s a loosely translated sampling of the radio D.J. on Galgalatz reading the traffic report:

“And now, the traffic. Folks, take it easy on the roads out there… We all want to get home safely, and we all need to be a little patient. Here’s some reasons why: On road A, from city B to city C, you have about 30 minutes of waiting to due to a תאונת דרכים at the entrance of exit D. And then on road E, going through junction F in the G direction, there is a תאונת דרכים causing 40 minute delays - careful, drivers. In direction H, towards city I, poor drivers will be waiting 20 minutes to pass to highway J because of a… well, תאונת דרכים. On highway K, on the L side of the M exit, they are just clearing up the remains of what seems to be a serious תאונת דרכים; please, drivers, think of the people around you. We will all get home tonight. Be patient. City N is not looking too good right now; junction O, between P and Q, is heavily backed up after a - can you guess? - תאונת דרכים that has caused all kinds of chaos. Road R is just picking up after an afternoon of back up between city S and city T, when not one - not two - but three תאונות דרכים caused lots of trouble for drivers towards city U. At junction V from city W to city X, there has been a תאונת דרכים causing major delays for those drivers trying to get to highway Y. And - this just in - a תאונת דרכים at the entrance to major city Z. Ah, brothers. A little patience, and we’ll all get home.”

So. Can you guess what today’s word - תאונת דרכים - means?

A true face of Jerusalem: the hospital waiting room.

Today I spent quite a bit of time in a Jerusalem hospital waiting room; no emergency, I just needed an x-ray. In the past few months, I’ve actually frequented Jerusalem hospital waiting rooms and have been fascinated by the faces I see and the languages I hear.

I think the true face of any city is its hospital waiting room. Conflict or none, from Belfast to Beirut, do people have much of a choice but to face each other in this neutral, undisputed territory?

Honestly, I’m not sure about those two cities, but in Jerusalem, the waiting room hosts a rainbow of Charedi Jews to secular Jews, Ashkenaz to Mizrachi, French, Russian and Ethiopian immigrants, international students and diplomats, religious and secular Arabs. You hear Hebrew spoken in so many accents, you wonder if it’s actually the same language.

Today I observed a couple of Arab women walk in with a small boy; one of the women was religious and one was not. The boy was young, maybe three, and clearly uncomfortable being there. He whined the way any child, no matter skin color nor religion, whines… The women accompanying him - the secular one seeming to be his mother - tried to hush him but to no avail.

Out of nowhere, an elderly woman came to him and started coaxing him Arabic-accented Hebrew to relax. She pulled from her bag the currency of which all children of every nation speak: crunchy snacks. She carefully poured the crackers into a cup for the boy and offered them to him: “Kach et ze, chamud. Ze b’seder. Tochel.”

Finally, the boy reached for the cup, and a chorus of Arabic flew from his mother and her companion: “Say thank you! Thank you! Shukran! Say shukran!” The older woman, who I realized was Mizrachi, spoke softly to the boy: “Yofee… Tochel, yeled tov. Tagid todah. To-dah. Tagid todah…”

This chorus of shukrans and todahs was not stopping, and soon I found that the Arab women were telling the boy to “Tagid todah,” while the Jewish woman was encouraging him to say “shukran!”

Language, faces, hospitals, kids, snacks. All undisputed territory when they work together.

Playing in our new backyard.

In an effort to clear the mind and explore new territory, we ventured into one of the 726548724 hiking trails around Tzur Hadassah in the Judean Hills this afternoon. It was a small park leading into the ‘backyard’ of a tiny yishuv called Nes Harim, which itself offers a cafe, horse back riding, a winery and more.

For two hours of activity, it was an absolutely incredible time. I just cannot get over the breathtaking land surrounding us here. These nature hikes are literally our backyard, and while we were there we were completely alone, wondering through avenues of peace and quiet.

We found caves along the trail; caves always make me think of ancestry and timelessness and life:

I know with time we’ll really come to explore a lot of these places in the area and fall in love again and again. It’s so completely not where I would have told you I saw myself at this point, but, even a month after relocating, I can’t imagine how I used to live.