Rain – a love/hate story
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?
Nostalgia Sunday – Purim Parties Past
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!
Haman rears his ugly head
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Politics, War, coexistence
Ahamadinajad, Assad and Nasrallah - a summit of the villains with humous. (Photo: AP)
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.
Purim 2010
Filed under: Food, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, design
If I had my act together, would be delivering the Indian mishloach manot in tiffin boxes, but it'll have to be alternative packaging
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.)
Purim costumes
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Holidays, Life, Religion, coexistence
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!
I Finally Meet My Prince
Karin meets Prince Hassan of Jordan at a water security conference in Switzerland last week.
It was a meeting of minds, water minds. Water consultants, ambassadors who’ve built water treaties, and government specialists and negotiators from around the Middle East and Europe gathered in Montreux, Switzerland for a two-day workshop on Water Security in the Middle East last week. Sure, I am busy writing stories for ISRAEL21c, but an environment blog I run called Green Prophet was invited to attend. The object was to explore sustainable and cooperative solutions to water security, and to use the problem of water and turn it into an instrument of peace.
Organized by the Strategic Foresight Group, the same India-based firm that brought us the Cost of Conflict to the Environment in the Middle East report, the event included a gala supper, and meeting with the Prince of Jordan, sponsored by the Swiss and Swedish governments. Both peace-loving and humanitarian nations are eager to ease future conflicts in the Middle East, with all fingers pointing to water conflict being the fuel for the next big one, many believe. But how can it be done? Read more
Foto Friday – Ancient Masks and Rattle Relics
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Holidays
Growing up as daughters of a rabbi, biblical scholar and part-time archeologist, my sisters and I never questioned the historical roots of Purim. So, I find it both amusing and disturbing that most people regard the Purim story as a myth or fairytale when it really is a docu-drama. Or, as my father put it, it is the story of a clash of empires that actually occurred and in which the Jews played a pivotal role.
Here is what Dr. David Neiman z”l thought: “The story of Purim is an account of the historical events related in the Scroll of Esther. Biblical scholars have always had a problem with this story and other biblical narratives which are beautifully written. It is as if the perfection of the literary work leads them to doubt its historical accuracy.” A portion of his audio lecture, The Politics of Purim is available online.
Our Purim traditions — masquerading, using noisemakers and getting drunk — are rooted in pre-Biblical pagan rites and our region’s archeological sites yield historical proof. In honor of the Purim holiday, the Israel Antiquities Authority has posted an online exhibition of ancient masks and rattles.
There is no clear historical moment that divides between the use of masks for ritual and for theater. But given their era, the masks presented by the IAA were definitely intended for ritual use.
Mask – image of a man, from Akhziv. Photograph: Miki Koren, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Mask from Nahal Hemer cave. Photograph: Nahum Selpak, courtesy of the Israel Museum.
Grotesque mask from Akhziv. Photograph: Miki Koren, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Ancient rattles are known from the third millennium BCE to the first century BCE. It is believed they were used primarily for ritual purposes. Clay rattles that contain small stones or other materials for making noise have been found in archaeological excavations all over the country.
Rattle from the City of David. Photograph: Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Rattle from Hazor. Photograph: Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
For more on the historical background of the Jews of Persia, The Book of Esther and life in ancient Persia – including the best pony express in the ancient world:
HMO bait and switch?
Maccabi Health Fund
When I received a call from our Maccabi Tivi, the complementary medicine branch of our local HMO, offering a massage and reflexology treatment for only NIS 100 (just over $25), I jumped at the chance. After all, my favorite luxury vacation has always been a trip to a spa (of which there are now plenty in Israel) with a massage included. Those rub downs, however, are usually upwards of NIS 300 ($80).
The Maccabi deal, unfortunately, was a bit of a bait and switch. In order to get the massage, you have to first see the doctor whose job is to sell you additional treatments. The appointment then became a kind of game of cat and mouse where I needed to tell the doctor what ailed me, but not too much, lest he send me for acupuncture instead of shiatsu.
I didn’t have much to worry about. Dr. Rosenbaum was pleasant enough, waddling in late for our meeting. He asked me some questions and typed them slowly, one finger at a time, into his computer. He felt my pulse and asked me to stick out my tongue. Then he sent me on my way without a single alternative recommendation.
My massage was immediately afterward. It was also part of the bait and switch. Not that my masseuse Nadav was in on the game. But the shiatsu was brief – under 30 minutes – and much of it consisted of his placing two fingers on strategic parts of my back and holding them there for several minutes. Not exactly a strenuous workout.
Nadav seemed, in fact, more interested in getting back to his granola bar, which he greedily stuffed into his mouth before I had even left the treatment room.
My reflexology appointment is next week. I have to decide if it’s worth the time – an hour and a half back and forth with Jerusalem’s horrendous center city traffic – not to mention the cost of the parking.
I’m expecting a sales call on the phone shortly. “How did I like it?” “Am I ready to sign up for more?” I’ll act politely interested, then insist on a full hour, no doctor, no granola bars and validated parking.
OK, maybe not the parking.
Hebrew U.’s sugar daddy
Filed under: Business, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Pop Culture, Technology
So I’m watching some Baby Einstein videos on YouTube with my boys the other day, and I notice at the end of the credits that it says Albert Einstein and Baby Einstein are trademarks of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This came as something of a surprise to me. Baby Einstein is actually related in some way to Albert Einstein the genius? And both are trademarks of Hebrew U.? How is this possible?
Baby Einstein, for the uninitiated, is a line of multimedia products and toys that explore music, art and poetry for children aged three months to three years of age. I know, it sounds pretentious, but I have to say that some of the products are great and really grow with the kids. Anyway, it was created by a set of young parents in Atlanta, Georgia who then sold most of the company to The Walt Disney Company. They pay significant royalties to the estate of Albert Einstein.
And where does Hebrew University, Israel’s largest academic institution, come in? Einstein, who was on the university’s first board of governors, bequeathed his estate to the university. They receive royalties from licensing activities associated with his name, and, here’s an interesting twist: Corbis Corporation, which is owned by none other than Bill Gates, licenses the commercial use of Einstein’s name.
It’s a small world. And just think, every time you purchase a Baby Einstein product (but not if you watch the videos on YouTube), you’re helping out Hebrew U. I may not donate to my alma mater, but hey, I’m helping, sort of.
Lego my toilet
Here’s one that gladdens the heart. Tamra, an Israeli Arab town in the Lower Galilee, is hosting the regional high school competition for LEGO robotic construction, as part of the FIRST Lego League. This is the sixth time the competition has been held in Israel, but the first time that it’s being held in an Arab Israeli town, a good thing for coexistence and high school robotics. Tamra will be hosting 18 teams from the north, 30% of which will go on to the finals in Tel Aviv.
Just so you have a sense of what LEGO robotics can do, check out this flushing system:
Stay tuned for comments on who won the competition…
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