The flip side of pushy

November 11, 2006 - 9:25 PM by Sarah

Israelis like to get into each other’s business. Sometimes, to a foreigner, this feels pushy and rude, and one’s reaction could easily be “excuse me, but no it is none of your business how much rent I pay on this apartment, or whether my baby needs a sweater right now.”

But sometimes, having people who get into your business is a good thing. Lisa, a Canadian import who works as a reporter and was recently in the Old Country to visit her family, shows us how Israel is just one big family, with all the bickering that goes along with that, but also, more often than one might think, the caring:

A few days ago, at 5.30 in the morning Toronto time, my mobile phone rang. It was Mazal, my bank manager, calling from a place where the time was 12.30. (I mentioned Mazal in this post, which is still one of my favourites).

“Mazal!” I said sleepily, “How are you? I’m in Toronto and I don’t have an overdraft.” (I still have post-debt traumatic stress disorder).

“No, no sweetheart,” said Mazal. “Your account is fine. I was just worried about you. Are you okay?”

Puzzled, I said, “Yes, I’m fine. Why?”

“Well,” said Mazal. “I was just reading about the balagan [chaos/mess] in Gaza and I was in a panic! I thought you might be there for work and I wanted to make sure you were alright. It’s terrible that you don’t have a mother in Israel to worry about you.”

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