Friday, Friday in Israel

February 20, 2009 - 10:36 AM by David · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Israeliness, Life, Politics, War

shabbat Things seem to be going from bad to worse on this Friday, as we head into Shabbat.
Or, at least back to the way things were just a couple months ago, before Operation Cast Lead.

According to news reports this morning, at least 10 mortar shells have fallen on the Western Negev. At the same time, Israel’s chief negotiator in trying to get Gilad Schalit freed, Amos Gilad, has cancelled a planned meeting in Cairo, following the Israeli cabinet decision to tie a cease-fire arrangement with Hamas to the release of Schalit.

And it looks like we’re headed for a narrow Right-wing coalition under Binyamin Netanyahu, following reports in the papers this morning that Kadima leader Tzipi Livni said she wouldn’t let her party be the token centrists to make the coalition more palatable to the world.

Maybe a Right-wing government is what is needed, since we haven’t accomplished much in the last 10 years or so under various moderate leadership. Who knows?

That’s why I’m dealing with the Friday errands that we all surround ourselves with here, to take our minds off the mess. It’s a red-letter day in our household as our 14-year-old son has relented to getting his first haircut in a couple years. So hurray for that!

And then we’re going to bring our puppy to the vet for a third round of shots (hopefully one that will inject him with a going outside to the bathroom ethic).

But the highlight of the day is that our oldest daughter just returned home from her last day of her army service. She’s sleeping it off now, but tonight over Shabbat dinner, we’ll celebrate, and I’m making a Pillsbury chocolate cake with my own secret recipe homemade frosting. And a secondary celebration will take place for daughter # 2 who just received a letter from the army that she’s been accepted for an elite combat track when she’s inducted later this year. Great for her, that’s going to be three years of no sleep for her worried parents.

So, we take our happiness where we can, even as the news around us looks bleak. After all, those everyday treasures are the real reasons we’re living here anyway. Shabbat Shalom.

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