Life in wartime?

Speaking to family and friends in America, it seems there is great concern about the situation in Israel. Living in Israel, it seems we are much more comfortable! Since 2001, Palestinian groups and Hamas have fired over 10,000 rockets into Israel. For the most part, these rockets are crude, and mostly do little damage. This is not always the case--in the last few days, several Israelis (as well as a few Palestinians working on an Israeli house) have been murdered by these rockets. For the last six months (ending last Friday) there had been a "truce" between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Egypt. While Israel had followed the truce and had not retaliated in Gaza, Hamas has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel. Towns and cities near Gaza such as Sderot and now Ashdod and even Ashkelon have had their schools, hospitals, playgrounds, pizza places, empty fields, hit by rockets. Those cities are almost moving underground, as they need to remain close to shelters! Hospitals have moved entire wards to bunkers/reinforced cellars under the hospitals.

Jerusalem is 78km/48miles from Gaza and Tel Aviv is 71km/44miles from Gaza. The farthest missles have gone is 18miles from Gaza--they usually go less than 5miles. Either way, we are a long distance away!

Jerusalem looks pretty much like it did last week. People are shopping, working, going to school (except for Hanukkah breaks!). Security seems slightly more alert, more soldiers wandering (patrolling?) around the old city. At the same time, life is basically normal. As long as one stays away from Gaza, there seems to be no reason to change any other routines. We had been in Eilat for Shabbat and literally had no idea that anything was going on until the dean called to check in with us! After wandering the Old City to find the old ladies selling red bendles (they were apparently on vacation the last few days), we went back towards Ben Yehuda for kosher Burger King and discovered this store: www.gans.co.il They have beautiful things, almost all made in Israel--90 Israeli artists, 89 of whom make everything in Israel, 1 of whom makes some of her materials in Bulgaria. I bought some beautiful presents for my parents, which they will hopefully receive in a couple weeks.

MSNBC map of Gaza "crisis"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28423775/
MSNBC's title is appropriate. The current situation is a crisis for Gaza, not for Israel (Thank Gd!). Israel is working to stop the continual rocket attacks, to create a truce that truly means a normal life for those in rocket range of the Gaza Strip. It is fascinating to see how Israel is blamed for the lack of aid to the innocent Palestinians, when the border between Gaza and Egypt requires Egyptian soldiers to shoot and kill Palestinians trying to leave. Egypt is an Arab country. On the other side, Jordan is 3/4 Palestinian. Why does the UN define refugees as the first generation worldwide, but for Palestinians "refugee" status can be conferred on descendants. Why are the Palestinian refugees not citizens of Syria or Jordan or any of theother lands where they are living in terrible conditions in refugee camps? Where is the outrage that their Arab brothers and sisters are treating them so poorly. Why are they not allowed to vote or get a decent education or integrate into society? Why are they told that it is all Israel's fault?

There were several hundred thousand Jews who were forced out of Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, etc. etc., all of whom were absorbed and made to be citizens of Israel. Were they always treated perfectly, no? Yet, they were citizens, created new politcal parties, voted, helped to create and change the state of Israel.

That's all folks (other than a bunch of articles I recommend):

Below is a selection of news stories from Israeli and other papers/websites that discuss different aspects of the situation.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3647296,00.html
From ynet (article linked above):
3) “It’s all because of Israel’s siege. Israel should allow aid into Gaza.”
Israel has allowed goods into Gaza regularly throughout the “siege”. Palestinians have been able to complement these deliveries with supplies smuggled through hundreds of tunnels (of course, they would likely be able to bring in even more food had they not used the tunnels to smuggle in missiles.). The day before operation “Cast Lead” got underway, Israel allowed dozens of trucks carrying aid to enter the Strip. On Tuesday, another 100 trucks – double the normal number –are expected to enter Gaza after Defense Minister Barak approved the move.

In short, Israel is allowing aid into the Strip (but guess who has kept Gaza crossings mostly closed thus far? That’s right, Egypt.)

4) “Why didn’t Israel just agree to renew the Gaza truce?” First, what truce? Terror groups continued to fire rockets throughout the lull, even if somewhat infrequently, and even if the world didn’t seem to care too much. Nonetheless, Israel clearly declared that it is interested in extending the truce. Our top officials made it clear time and again. Yet Hamas leaders clearly declared that the truce has ended on December 19th, and proceeded to bombard southern Israeli communities with dozens of rockets daily. In short, it is no wonder that even the Egyptians are blaming Hamas this time.

Hamas Credo Led It To End Cease-Fire

By STEPHEN FARRELL

Published: December 29, 2008

RAMALLAH, West Bank — On the wall of the Israeli government press office in Jerusalem on Monday was a stack of yellow Post-it notes pasted one on top of the next, with the number 10,048 scrawled on the top one. That was the number of Palestinian rockets and mortar shells fired into Israel from Gaza since 2001. . .

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1051235.html

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456534488&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


From fox:

From 2000 to 2004, Hamas was responsible for killing nearly 400 Israelis and wounding more than 2,000 in 425 attacks, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

From 2001 through May 2008, Hamas launched more than 3,000 Qassam rockets and 2,500 mortar attacks against Israeli targets.

Kol Isha (Woman's Voice)

I'm here (the fiancee) writing on my boy's blog. I figured I'd share some for all those following. I do not have quite the words of talmudic wisdom that he has, but at least I can share our past week's adventures.

After a few hours of delay, without any actual acknowledgment, explanation or reason for the delay, I took off and landed without any difficulty. I was able to meet the boy easily, and ironically bumped into another friend's brother in the airport.

Food is not quite that different- as my first meal was pizza and have had italian food other times during the trip. (Surprise, surprise).

We've been very stereotypical tourists- visiting Ben Yehuda Street, Emek Refayim, Malha Mall, KFC, etc. I am finding that people are just as stubborn and willing to walk into you as previously, but people are still very much willing to learn where you are from and why you are visiting Israel. People are also very willing to help in most ways- pointing the direction, talking in English (or Hebrew slowly, or Hebr-ish- a combination of English and Hebrew) and just making light conversation. In fact, one day I went into a store and spent a good 30 minutes talking with the store owner since he spent a good part of his life in the same town as me. I've had fun just being in Israel during Chanukah- no true signs of Christmas anywhere, just the chanukiot in apartment windows, in shop stores, and even being lit up high in the windy sky by the Jerusalem Chabad on a fire truck (pictures to follow upon my return to the states).

Over Shabbat, I adventured with my sweetie to Eilat. Unbeknownst to my parents, we rented a car and drove through the Negev. We did not drive through the West Bank, like the bus does, if we had gone with that mode of transportation. While Eilat is beautiful, it is extremely commercial, and was not quite as much fun as my previous experiences- as in 90 degree weather upon my return from Jordan where the temperature was even higher. We relaxed along the beach, walked through the silly kiosks/stalls/stands, the mall, and just walked. We also visited the aquarium- which was a true delight. While it probably is a lot more fun for kids- it was beautiful.

I do have to say that jet lag is not an easy thing to deal with, and I am still, almost a week later, having difficulty adjusting.

It was not until we received a call from the Dean inquiring as to whether we were safe and sound that we were even made aware of the latest news in Gaza.mJust a word- nothing was really made aware here. We have felt completely safe, and have not had any issues so far. We will continue to be safe as we have been, and hope to make another trip to the Kotel, and then a last trip to Tel Aviv before my flight leaves Thursday morning.

Anyway, a belated Chag Orim Sameach, Merry Christmas, and a soon to be Happy New Year, and to all a good night (really, it's time to go to bed here).

she's almost on the plane!

The last two months have been a fantastic learning experience. While I've lived in graduate housing, this is the second time I've been in a "real" apartment, and the second time that has been in Israel. Thank Gd, this experience is a heck of a lot better than the last time. In the last two months I have not left Jerusalem much, but I have gotten into a routine of school, sleep, west wing, and occasional eating and exercising (if you don't count the twice daily walk up Schechter's mountain). I probably should work on the latter two more!

This week has many exciting possibilities:
1) My fiancee is almost on a plane to the Holy Land. While I have done ok in this country, it will be wonderful to have my love at my side, exploring together.
2) I'm hopefully having more voice lessons this week.
3) My fiancee is coming tomorrow!
4) I may get confirmation to begin my volunteer project.
5) My fiancee and I will explore this wonderful country--trying to get under Israel's skin and see all of its glory (and less beautiful parts, too).
6) She's coming here in less than 12 hours.

Note: for those outside Israel, there is much more to this country than concrete. It is full of greenery, life, color, children, adults, etc. In very few areas have I seen barbed wire--I see more in New York City! It is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. [While at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the BFL leadership conference, we heard a lecture about how those outside of Israel view the country. In focus groups around America and Europe, most non-Jews thought that Israel was concrete/barbed wire. In virtually all cases, the participants in the focus groups did not mention any colors when describing Israel (as opposed to many colors when describing other countries). To help demonstrate my point, I'm attaching some of Israel's greenery. It is fascinating to see forests on one side of a mountain and deserts on another--and yet to see green even in the desert!

With that pithy post, I conclude. I need to clean a little more and then sleep!

testing 1 2 3

(Sorry parents and future in-laws for the repetition.)
Attached is a photo from yesterday morning's leadership program. We went to Neot Kedumim the biblical landscape park near Modiin. This Thursday-Saturday was the last of 3 leadership training Shabbatot that I have attended/participated in. In previous weeks we have heard lectures, attended museums, compared leadership styles of Herzl and Begin, collected food at the shuk for poor Jerusalem families. This Friday we went to Neot Kedumim for outdoor training. One of the activities was herding goats and sheep. My group was most successful. The last part of this activity was getting all the sheep to one side and the goats to another side of a field (in marked circles). One little lamb thought he/she? was a goat. After chasing him around a bit, we cornered him and I carried him to the correct circle so that we might complete our time. Overall a really entertaining experience! Remind me and I'll send more photos and more of the story soon.

another day, another dream

I woke up this morning, hit snooze and had a dream that I slept too late to go to class. In my dream every clock I looked at had a different time. Strange.

2 minute update

Everything that's going on with me in 2 minutes or less:

Machon Schechter is great. They are working really hard to make sure we are learning and satisfied with our education and experience. I know that last year was very rocky and they seem to be making efforts to fix past problems and prevent new ones.

I'm a bit petrified of my halakha exam. I hope that I get some good studying done before Shabbat.

I'm curious as to who/what package is at the post office for me.

I'm amused at how complicated it is to try to volunteer in this country. I've been in touch with tons of people at various hospitals and nursing homes. I've now met the second person at a place I think I will be volunteering and will need to meet a third person before I will actually get to meet any residents. At least I should know where it is by then!

Google maps for Israel is annoying. I'm glad that it exists but I don't understand why sometimes it finds streets and addresses and sometimes it is totally clueless--regardless of whether you are writing in Hebrew or English. The walking directions are decent (and a fantastic idea)--when it works! Now if only they made a bus map, since Egged doesn't seem to.

Things I'm confused about with this country:
lines/lack thereof
post office
government in general
rude waiters
lack of bus maps or schedules on bus stations
drivers/moped--how do these people not expect to kill themselves or others??

That's all for today.

or not--It was awesome to see my sister for lunch. It was great to work out a little at the gym (although no swimming today). My legs this evening decided that I'd walked enough which made getting the last block home a bit challenging. Finally, I'm really excited to babysit this Sunday!!!

time to go

Shavua tov. Another week, another Shabbat.
Had a lovely evening with 3 out of 4 of the roommates for Shabbat dinner. Lunch was with an amazing prof. and his 6 children and wonderful wife. We had good food at all the meals and great company, too.
I also wanted to second my sister's comment this week about having an urge to go home. After thinking that I did not know any Hebrew grammar, I took some time off and walked to the Old City. I realized I did actually learn some Hebrew in the last few years (as well as this one), which was reassuring-as was Hebrew the next day, when my Hebrew teacher took time to talk to each of us about our strength and weaknesses.
Anyway, it was a busy week. Some was very difficult, some was fantastic. I hope this week will be even better. Time for some kosher KFC and looking for a pillow. I've been sleeping on a Mogu star, which is really comfy, but it isn't a real pillow!

more time

I want more time. I want to reorganize days to include more than 24 hours and weeks to include 8 days. I think it would make life better. It might also require the adjustment of laws of physics and of the universe, but I'd be happier. Is that a good enough reason to change the world?

Today was a very long day. I have tons of homework. I managed to do a bit of it. There is always tomorrow! Also, had some cooling off time in the old city--although I was overheating at the wall! In the sunshine, it felt like it was in the mid 80s, but I don't think it was quite that warm.

Perhaps tomorrow I will learn more Hebrew and will not be so frustrated with this arduous process.

Tomorrow will be better. Isn't it always?