shabbat shalom 14.12.07

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http://shabbat-shalom-jerusalem.blogspot.com/


Hi everyone,

It is winter here in Jerusalem for sure. The wind is howling, rain came this week, and my arthritis became painful. I went for acupuncture therapy yesterday and it is a lot better now.

Sunday was Hanukka party in my congregtion, absolutely packed. I went, but sitting cheek by jowl with a hundred people and noisy kids yowping in my face was not my idea of a pleasant experience. I left after an hour, skipping the potato pancakes and jelly donuts. This year, after the onset of gastritis, I find that greasy food makes me sick anyway; had potato latkes at a friend's last Friday, got stomach cramps before dessert, and spent the next two hours in the bathroom. So I'm wary of what I eat now.

Monday I passed by a Russian store selling "New Year trees" and decorations; maybe in response to the Hanukka stuff, I got a little tree and decorated it in my office. (With 12 cats at home, a Christmas tree isn't going to last ten minutes.) It felt nice, reconnecting with pleasant memories.

Tuesday, I took the train north along the coast to visit the sea turtle rescue center my organization runs near Mikmoret, in a marine education school next to the Sharon Coastal Nature Reserve. It was an enchanting visit; the weather was great and the guy who runs the rescue center (a former seaman, now a biologist with world class expertise on sea turtles) gave me a tour not only of the center, but of the coast reserve. I haven't been in the field since last spring, so it was a boost to my spirit. Likewise meeting the volunteers who staff the rescue center. They get very little support and do their work by hook or by crook, very dedicated. I was there to look at the database system, which was well done by a volunteer who put months of work on it, for free. (I almost forgot we have people like that, with the garbage that goes on in the head office.)

My winter's supply of firewood arrived on Wednesday, so now I can start using my woodstove. Olive tree, eucalyptus, pine, orchard trimmings. Right now it is a big pile by my house and I have to stack it. Maybe the exercise will loosen my painful arms and hands, at least I hope so.

Thursday was amusing. We had the informatics specialist from Israel's LTER system come to Jerusalem and give a presentation on how data are handled in the LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) system worldwide. I had been asked to introduce him to the head of our computer service department, a little Yemenite who, like some short guys, has a Napleon complex. The Yemenite deliberately came in late, accustomed to making a high profile entry while everyobody waits for him. Instead, we had dived right in and were already deep in the data management questions when he made his entry. So he sat glowering and sulkiing and looking at his watch for the next hour while the rest of us had fun. (Informatics is a fun subject, actually; it's puzzle solving like systems analysis.)

Instead of joining the fun, the guy sat like a cigar store Indian radiating hostility......My amusement was a little wry because I remember acting like that (mostly as a teenager) and knowing it is based in towering ego combined with an inferiority complex. Been there, done that myself, dude. This poor guy needs a 12-Step programme.....

This weekend, unless rain scratches it out, I have a visit from an archeologist I have admired. William Fulco is a Jesuit priest and a professor of Near Eastern archeology in a California university, with a specialty in Near Eastern religions. He's done a few digs in Israe and comes back periodically, but is perhaps better known for doing the translation to Aramaic for Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion". So as you might guess, he's a little funky, and very bright. A friend is bringing hiim over, and the three of us will have a poke around the antiquities here at my village (Har Gilo) and he will go on to Beit Jala after brunch.

Beyond that, I'm skipping social events. I had a dinner invitation for tonight, but I'm not feeling well enough to stay up late and socialize. I'm not really sick these days, but I'm not healthy either, and I tire too easily. Since winter is on us and I live alone, I have to make sure I don't get sick, which is a real problem with no backup help, especially in winter. Weekends are for resting these days.

I'm also keeping a low profile in my congregation during the last several months. Partly I don't have the energy for it, and partly I really need to get my own head straight. I realized a couple months ago that a lot of what I did was people-pleasing. I was observing rituals and mouthing words I didn't believe or understand, to be part of a group, to gain acceptance, to be liked and appreciated. It had nothing to do with my relationship with God, and my spiritual life had been near dead for years. This self-realization shocked me, and I reacted with repulsion to all that I had been doing. At least for now I stopped most of the ritual ceremonies, although I come to Bible study lessons on Sunday.

So now, I am sort of digging throught the dead material of my faith, seeing where there might be a few sparks of life. It's a difficult process, but a necessary one.

shabbat shalom,
Linda