Rain – a love/hate story

February 28, 2010 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Environment, Israeliness, Life 

I really hate the rain. Oh, I know it’s good for us and the country desperately needs to refill its reservoirs. I just wish we could get all our rainfall at night, when I’m sleeping. Getting caught in a daytime downpour is one of my most dreaded activities. It’s cold, my glasses get pelted so I can barely see, and I’m always afraid that sloshing through puddles will ruin my shoes.

Now, my wife Jody and I are regular exercisers. Our main workout is running – we head to the streets 3-4 times a week, on several different circuits in southern Jerusalem. Our favorite is along the Sherover and Goldman Promenades, overlooking the Old City. We also run up to the Ramat Rachel kibbutz and back, and through the German Colony.

This morning, the skies looked ominous. It had been thundering all weekend, but at 9:00 AM, the ground was dry. We decided to chance it. Strapping on our iPods, we headed out on the closest route to home towards the Old Katamon neighborhood.

About five minutes into our run, we felt a few drops from above but not enough to turn back. I can deal with a light drizzle as long as it stops and starts. Which is exactly what it was doing. So far so good.

10 minutes into the run, the rain started coming down harder. We were in San Simon Park and ducked under a tree until the rain lightened up. Then we were off again.

As we turned back onto Kovshei Katamon Street, the skies opened up big time. There was a bus stop across the street. We dashed between oncoming vehicles where we took shelter to wait it out.

Only this time, the rain didn’t abate – it intensified. The streets began to fill up. It’s amazing how quickly water can come cascading down a slight hill in the midst of Israeli city. It was easy to imagine how a flash flood could appear out of nowhere.

As the gullies deepened, the splashes from nearby cars loomed closer. When a truck rumbled by, soaked us from head to toe. We knew it was time to head home…regardless of the downpour.

For the next five minutes, we sprinted through the streets as if wading in a freezing swimming pool. We were up to our ankles in a gray and brown Jerusalem liquid mix. Since I was running blind (the glasses thing, remember?), if there had been a pothole, I would have been a goner.

We made it home and our teenager daughter laid out large beach towels at the door to mop up our mess.

All I wanted at that point was a nice hot shower. I threw myself under the water, only to realize too late that there had not been enough sun that morning to power the solar heater and we had neglected to turn on the electric timer.

Sitting in the kitchen, sipping a cup of tea, Jody tried to lighten the mood, pushing a more optimistic agenda. After today, she said, it couldn’t possibly get any worse.

That’s when we heard the drip-drop of the rain again. We looked up. It was coming through the roof.

Did I mention I hate the rain?

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Nostalgia Sunday – Purim Parties Past

February 28, 2010 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Holidays, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture 

One of the hard truths of life in Israel is that it always rains on Purim. It is as if the weather conspires to prove that we Jews can never hold a joyous celebration without breaking a glass or making a little baby boy cry.

And events conspire as well. A few days ago, Magen David Adom issued a stern directive against dangerous masks and costumes, in particular warning against Avatar-wannabes who might paint their bodies using blue chalk or charcoal. Spoilsports. And just today, the Homefront Command announced that the new gas mask distribution project has commenced. What impeccable timing.

Today is particularly stormy which makes it that much harder to get into a festive mood. But party we must! Even under the most difficult of conditions, Purim has been celebrated and documented — just see Yad VaShem’s online exhibition Purim – Before, During, and After the Holocaust) which is historic, not nostalgic, but important to know. And check out these photos of Purim kindergartens from the pre and post-State period, courtesy of the PikiWiki Israel project. (Click images for large version).

Kibbutz Sarid kindergarten – 1930s

Szold kindergarten, Netanya – 1935

Kindergarten in Tel Aviv’s Montefiore neighborhood – 1941

Purim celebration on Moshav Beit Itzhak – 1956

And check out these mini-hippies from Quneitra-Merom Golan, circa 1967!

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Haman rears his ugly head

February 28, 2010 by · 3 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Politics, War 

Ahamadinajad, Assad and Nasrallah - a summit of the villains with humous. (Photo: AP)

Maybe because it’s Purim, and we Jews are obsessing with bad guys trying to annihilate us, but didn’t the photographs of Syrian President Bashir Assad, Iranian President Ahmadinajad and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah sitting around a goodies-laden table at the end of the week in Damascus evoke a shiver down your spine?

It was like one of those scenes Batman or Austin Powers where the idiosynchratic but well-costumed villains stage an evil summit to hatch new plans for world domination. There’s some eerie synchronicity going on – we’re gathering to hear the Megilla reading in Israel and around the world, being reminded of Haman’s plan to wipe out the Jews. And generations later, these anti-Israel professionals – one, Nasrallah, actually in his best Penguin meets The Joker garb – are gathering around humous and eggplant salad to discuss the very same thing.

We’ve sat down at the peace table with some unsavory folks in the past – Yasser Arafat anyone? But even that was within the realm of possibility, as he talked about making peace with Israel and living side by side, even if his actions didn’t resemble his words. And King Hussein and Anwar Sadat always seemed like level-headed leaders, even when they were our enemies, so it was no great leap to find commond ground with them when the time came.

But what about the terrible trio of Assad, Ahamadinajad and Nasrallah? Are we ever going to be able to sit around the humous table with them? Or is it going to play out like a Purim story, where one side has to triumph over the other? Stay tuned, same Bat time, same Bat channel.

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Purim 2010

February 28, 2010 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: design, Food, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life 

If I had my act together, would be delivering the Indian mishloach manot in tiffin boxes, but it'll have to be alternative packaging

Purim’s approaching for the Jerusalemites — we’ve got ‘walled city’ status because of the Old City walls — so we celebrate on Shushan Purim, which is tonight and tomorrow, and not last night and today, like the rest of the country. But in any case, the signs are all around. People are already posting their Purim costume revelry on Facebook, local restaurants are advertising various Purim seudah deals, the paper goods stores are packed as folks prepare their mishloach manot packages and I’m about to start on my mishloach manot cooking.

I tend to focus on mishoach manot on Purim, rather than a specific costume or a Purim seudah, the festive meal that’s served on the day of Purim, which is more of an Israel thing, given that the whole country has the day off. (Even the banks are closed, which has my mother wondering if her automatic payments for various bills will happen tomorrow, March 1, or on Tuesday, when the banks reopen.) Anyway, I’ve had a wide variety of themes over the years, from homemade gnocchi and sauce, which I prepared with my friend Clare to molten chocolate cakes and whipped cream or homemade Devil Dogs, painstakingly prepared with my stepdaughters. It’s also always fun to see what everyone else is delivering, and we’ve gotten some great selections, from chocolate milk and rolls at six a.m., bagels, lox and OJ to, one of my personal faves, a container of a very special cucumber salad made by one of my sister’s good friends and for which I had repeatedly requested the recipe from my sister, but never received. Needless to say, I now have the recipe.

I’m on my own this year — Daniel tends to focus more on costumes, less on mishloach manot (except for handling most of the deliveries) — as the girls are older and doing their own thing, and I’ve decided to go with an Indian theme, given our newfound love for cooking Indian food this year.

Without revealing everything, I’ll just say that each mishloach manot package will contain three Indian meal elements, including chapati, which are flatbreads made with whole wheat flour and fried — without oil or butter — in a griddle pan. They don’t necessarily come out perfectly round the first few times you make them, but they are incredibly easy to make. Really.

Here’s one recipe, and I’m adding a note at the bottom:

Whole Wheat Flat Breads

Mix together:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
about 3/4 cup warm water (enough for a kneadable dough)

Knead the dough, cover, and leave aside for at least 1/2 hour or, ideally, up to 2 hours. After about 1 hour (or right before rolling out), punch the dough and knead again without any more water.
Make 10-12 1 1/2″ balls and roll out into thin, 6″ circles. Place a flat, ungreased griddle on the stove at medium-high heat. When hot, place a rolled-out chapati “right side” down on the griddle. (The “right side” is the one facing you when you roll it.) When bubbles are visible, turn over and cook until tiny brown spots appear on the side facing the griddle.
If you have a gas stove, hold the chapati with a pair of tongs, and place it directly over the burner flame for a few seconds, until the chapati puffs up. Turn and repeat on the other side. (NOTE: This is much easier than it sounds, and offers the right finishing touch. — JS)
If you have an electric stove, keep the chapati on the griddle. With a wadded up paper towel to protect your fingers, press gently all around the chapati. Flip the chapati and press gently around the other side. This procedure should make the chapati puff up. (If you press too hard, the chapati will become too crunchy.)
Remove the chapati from the heat, and buter with ghee on the “right side.” (NOTE: Tastes great, but you don’t have to add the butter.)

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Purim costumes

February 27, 2010 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: coexistence, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Life, Religion 

Purim is here, and amid the remains of a lightning-filled 48 hour winter storm, we’re headed out to hear the Megilla at our local havurah gathering.

It’s interesting to be part of – and the instigators – behind an egalitatrian minyan in a community where most people are either secular or orthodox, and where the chief rabbi of the city is a Conservative and Reform-hating Jew. We sort of have to keep things under the radar and it’s a little paradoxical that the religious pluralism American Jews – for instance – enjoy as a matter of fact is not available without a fight in the Jewish state.

Costumes, as usual, are last-minute. The young son is going as a Man-in-black Secret Service type, the teenage son was going to go as a soldier until he decided to stay home instead.

My wife chose a mix and match American football player motif, while I decided to be somewhat timely. I’m wearing a tennis outfit with tennis raquet and sunglasses. Can anybody guess who I am?

I guess the ‘Dubai’ sign sort of gives it away…
Happy Purim!

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