shabbat shalom 09.05.08 (with photo)

Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 21:51:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Linda Whittaker"
Subject: shabbat shalom 09.05.08 (with photo)
To: "Linda Olsvig-Whittaker"
(I see that the picture doesn't always come through, so I send it again as an attachment)
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Hi everyone,

We just had Memorial Day (Yom HaZichron) for Israe's fallen soldiers, followed by "Yom Ha'atzmaut" (Independence day) in Israel.


(And yes, guys, the Israeli girl soldiers are often very beautiful; these two are not unusual. Sometimes it's the only compensation a Palestinian gets for having to go through a pat-down search as part of a security check.....)

Anyway, it is always a wrenching business to go through the sorrow of the memoril day when most of us know people who have fallen in battle or in terrorist attacks (both are honored), and then at sundown to switch gears to a joyful holiday.

Yesterday was Israel's 60th anniversary. Sometimes it is hard to believe this country is barely older than I am, and barely survived quite a few close squeaks on the way. It is a very small country (I was staggered to learn that all Israel would fit inside Kruger National Park in South Africa) and could still snuff out with a single atom bomb.

I heard President Peres on the radio this morning, musing on Israel's place in the world. He said (and I agree fully) that because we are small in area and population, we can never become major producers of anything. But we can become the world's laboratory. Israel is full of ambitious, creative, energetic people who are willing to try anything (good or bad, alas). And (both a blessing and a curse) the Jewish people are never satisfied. We are a nation of kvetchers from Genesis until today. Rightly directed, that ethnic trait of discontent can prod people to try to make things better, and indeed from Moses to Einstein, the Jews have contributed disproportionately to the world's innovators. It makes sense to me; I always did have the feeling while living here that I'm in the middle of some cosmic experiment. God's guinea pigs, it seems.

So, while most of the nation went off to the park for the traditional Indepdence Day barbeque, I stayed home invited people to my back garden for a meal. Why not, when my back yard has one of the most glorious views in the Jerusalem area, out over the terraced fields of the Judean Mountains? My company was my choice, therefore a weird mix: two new immigrants from Cambridge, England, two veteran immigrants from the US, an Irish Catholic emergency ward nurse, and Rami, my Arab/Cuban /Israeli/Palestinian gardner, who surpervised the grill and regaled us with his rapid fire opinions on just about everything. The patter between the Irishwoman and the Arab/Cuban was a lot faster than a Brit or American could handle so they mostly just watched the show.

We also have several flyovers of Israel's military planes in formation, en route from their base to the west for an air show over Jerusalem. Since I am at 1,000 meters on the flight path, and they were flying low, I could read the lettering and insigniaon the planes without binoculars. Nice show, flying in tight formation, separated in groups according to jet model. I never did figure out what the big white plane with the cable trailing from its butt was supposed to do (refueling jet, maybe?); the rest were fighters of course.

I was glad the nurse was here. I have an infected puncture wound on my hand and know the drill for treatment. I just hate the hassle of going to our health clinic and wasting hours before I get a prescription for what I knew I needed anyway. She came with several antibiotics, looked at my hand, and left me with both antibiotic capsules and dressings for the next few days. Good enough for me; this lady has done Red Cross work in Rwanda and Bangladesh and has seen more wound infections than most doctors ever will. So I trust her judgment, and it was hassle free.

Three days of peace and quiet, a long weekend. Despite the week of rest in Holland I appreciate this. Errands today, a trip to the spa tomorrow, and that is about it. Good to be back home.

shabbat shalom,
Linda

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Attachments

Photos:
Yom_Haazmaut.jpg (37k) [View]

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