PETTY RIP-OFFS

This is a very curious banner on a pro-Zionist building, that I'm not sure how to interpret. There is a picture of an American Indian with the statement: "Ask me about Land for Peace." with a map of Israel and an arrow shot through the location of Jerusalem. I THINK, the Indian sympolizes the Israelis, and the Palestinians (Americans?) are promising him if he (the Indian) gives up his land, then they (Palestinians/Americans) will give him Peace in return. And, of course, the conclusion is, "how did that work out for you (Indians/Israelis)!!" I don't know where to even begin analyzing this mixed metaphor.

My father once said, possibly as an old Yiddish expression, that if you lied to trick a person out of money that was theft, but if you used a "fountain pen" (presumably as part of a contract) to extract the money, that was fair and square. I'm not sure in Israel the average shop owner recognizes that distinction.

Here's an experience that happened on my first week. I went to change $100 and on one side of the street was a licensed Money Changer with a rate posted in the window. On the other side of the street was a grocery store with a sign in English that said something like, "Dollars R Good Hear." So you know which store I picked. The owner greeted me like a long lost relative and when I said I was from California, he went on and on about all his relatives who lived there. I felt so comfortable with this guy. I gave him the $100 bill and he gave me back what he said was 320 shekels. I looked down at the 3 one-hundred shekel notes and the 2 ten argots (1/10 of a shekel) I said, "What are those?" and he said "They're shekels."

Well to make a long story short it took me a day or so to figure out that an argot is not a shekel and when I went back to him he initially didn't recognize me, denied he knew anyone in California and finally acknowledged that the exchange rate was 300.2 shekels. Note: across the street in the "real" money changer's store the rate was 350 shekels. Needless to say, I was shocked and disappointed.

When I saw a policeman on the street I stopped him and recounted the story. He asked, "why didn't you go to the licensed dealer or at least count your money when it was changed." I responded, "I thought, I'm a Jew, the grocery store owner is a Jew, why would one Jew rip off another Jew for 20 shekels?" The policeman couldn't stop laughing. When he asked where I was from, I was afraid to tell him Berkeley, California.

Variations of this experience happen everyday. I went to the Post Office to change money and the receipt I got said 2050 shekels, but the clerk gave me only 2000 shekels. I stood there frozen, she looked at me and I looked at her. Then I said, "the receipt says 2050 shekels" and she said, "SOOO." Then I said, "where is the 50 extra shekels?" and she just kept looking blankly at me. Finally, she blinked, reached into her drawer, handed me the 50 shekel note and without skipping a beat went on to the next customer.

Another time I went to the cafe at the Israel museum with my kids and ordered 3 drinks. When we got the bill, my daughter noticed there were 4 items. I called the waitress over and before I could say anything she grabbed the check from my hands and said, "there's a mistake" and quickly returned with a 3 item bill.

I don't know what to make of all this, since I have so many similar stories. This is not outright theft worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, although at the national level it seems that almost every politician in Israel is being indicted for just such a financial crime. It is such pettiness, usually at the level of a few dollars and there never seems to be any remorse. It is always considered a simple mistake, certainly not the kind of thing that would break up a beautiful friendship between vendor and customer. My initial reaction was that this was a "Jewish" thing, but I am increasingly being told that it is Middle-eastern. I'm not sure, but in any case, I've started to pay much better attention and as expected I am starting to catch many more such "mistakes."

ISRAELI POLITICS FOR DUMMIES

I see people reading small "prayer" books ALL the time, especially on the bus. They always move their lips when they read and even though they have read these prayers a thousand times, they still have to read and say them word by word. Note: Psalm 51, verse 17, says: "May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable to You, O God, my Rock and my Redeemer." I think that's why they have to move their lips, get it!! I also see Ultra-conservative men running quickly down the street, I'm told this is because they are going from one religious training session to another and if they walk slowly, this will be time wasted and taken away from their studies. This gives new meaning to the expression "Time is Money" actually it should be, "Time is Study."

So far I have avoided political comments, not because I didn't want to offend people, but because I never know what side of the argument I am on. It's easy to be opposed to Israeli military activity, but its hard to support the actions of a crazy guy on a bulldozer driving down the street in front of one's house. In any case, here is a brief discussion of the recent Israeli election results.

Israel prides itself on being the only democracy in the Middle-East which says less about Israel and a lot about the autocracies of the surrounding kingdoms and military governments. But it is this very claim of democracy that causes so much concern because once you make a commitment to democracy, you also make a commitment to majority rule and before you commit to majority rule you better make sure your side has the majority of people. It's unclear who is in the majority because if you believe in the one state solution, there could be more Arabs than Jews and if you believe in two states, then than could be more Ultra-religious people than secular one.

Added to this problem is the fact that secular people LIKE ME don't make kids as fast as the Ultras and the Arabs (Palestinians), so even if there are currently enough secular voters to provide some sanity to the process, in the future that will not be true. As a result, the question always becomes, "what if the majority of voters are crazy and vote for destructive policies?" As the Bush years have shown, Israelis are not the only ones who wrestle with this dilemma.

The essence of the Israel election disfunctionalism resides in its mathematics. There are 120 Knesset seats and it takes 61 votes to keep the government in power. If any issue fails to get 61 votes, the government falls which happens about every 2 years. In theory this isn't such a bad idea, but here is the problem; no one party in recent times has ever gotten more than about 30 votes and that means whoever can put together a coalition of 61 votes gets to run the government.

Now, there were 33 parties running in the last election and they range from a party called, Holocaust Survivors in Support of Legalized Marijuana (really!) to an ultra-religious party that believes God gave the entire Middle-east to the Jews from the Mediterranean to Iran. A party needs about 2% of the total vote to get a seat and only 12 parties crossed that threshold. The Labor Party (Barack) which used to run the country got 13 votes, their poor showing signaled the end of the Labor/Kibbutz orientation of the past. The Kadima Party center-left-2 state solution-pro-peace process, philosophy got 28 votes headed by a woman, Tzipi Livni. Likud, (Netanyahu) right-wing, one state solution, anti-peace process, platform got 27 votes . But the real shocker is the Yisrael Beiteinu party of Avigdor Lieberman who got 15 votes and they represent the new Russian immigrants who are very secular, many may not even be Jewish and are militantly anti-Arab. There are a few peace oriented parties which have about 10 votes and a few religious parties (like Shas) that have about 20 votes.

Here's where the math gets really interesting. Tzipi (the winner) can automatically count on Labor and Peace parties for about 51 votes and Likud can MAYBE count on the Religious and Yisrael Beiteinu Parties for 63 votes. But not so fast Likud! Y.B wants civil marriages and new easy conversion to Judisim rules for the Russians, which the religious parties violently oppose. Also Likud stands for less government social programs and the religious parties want huge government payments for religious schools and child payments for large families. Generally everyone of the leaders hates or distrusts the others, Lieberman/Netanyahu are bitter rivals, Tzipi can't stand Netanyahu's corruption and immorality, Labor will never be part of Lieberman's racist attitude towards Israeli Arabs.

As a result of all of this, there is a lot of horse-trading and the currency for this is government ministries. Likud has promised Shas that they can head the Housing and Education Departments thus building cheap settlement homes in the West Bank and setting up free religious schools for the orthodox, while Lieberman has been promised Foreign Affairs, Finance and Justice Departments. (Lieberman is under investigation for bribery/money laundering and wants to prevent anticipated indictments). Tzipi who probably could work with Lieberman because they are both secular, has demanded that Netanyahu support the peace process and the 2 state solution, something he has absolutely refused to do.

Finally, just to complicate the matter, there is no way that a right-wing Likud government can ever work with the Obama administration and Hillary who are pushing for an independent Palestinian state and a halt in settlement construction. On a cheerier note, EVERYONE wants to bomb the crap out of Iran, sooner rather than later and certainly before Obama opens up a dialogue with both the Syrians and the Iranians a process that has already gotten started and will be difficult to stop.

Sorry this was such a long explanation and at the time of this writing there is no clear government in sight although Netanyahu first offered a unity government with Kadima, which was flatly refused by Tzipi and he has now approached Lieberman which is freaking out Shas who sees these Russian Goys becoming instant Israelis. Stay tuned, there is many more miles before this journey ends.

A CLOSE ENCOUNTER

This afternoon I decided to go to the Jerusalem Mall while our cleaner, Vitale, tried to return the house to its pre-Howard condition. One of the agreements I signed on to when I came was that the house would be cleaned from top to bottom once a week whether it needed it or NOT. I feel that I am in a constant state of cleaning up after myself, but apparently I am missing some spots, like the kitchen and bathroom. In the "old country" where I'm from, we called this making the house (or car) "mommy friendly", if you need more insight into this issue consult the Men are from Mars/Women are from Venus books.

In any case, I was enjoying myself while reading in a soft chair at one of the mall bookstores. I was reading political articles by David Grossman who is a peace activist and whose son tragically died in the Second Lebanon War. He is a powerful and eloquent advocate whose thesis seems to be that Israel has lost its way as a beacon of moral authority and has descended into thuggery. In the background, the music on the store speaker played The Best of Bob Dylan album and I got lost in "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Mr. Tambourine Man." I finished off the experience with a large middle-eastern plate of lamb sausage and rice and beans.

This is a fast food plate at the Mall for $10, its fresh and tasty. It is
located right next to a Kosher MacDonalds which is packed with teenagers while
this vendor was almost empty. What a pity.

Unexpectedly my phone went off and Vardit nervously asked if I was OK. I asked "Why" and was told that a Palestinian had just driven a bulldozer into a bus right in front of the Mall about a hour earlier. I rushed out just in time to see the bulldozer being taken away and all that was left was the media frenzy. The debris from the attack must have been cleaned up almost immediately.

See: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1236246868064&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Photo shortly after the attack with just the media milling around, the
bus/police car/bulldozer where whisked away almost immediately.

Everyone is quite concerned because next week is the big holiday of Purim with lots of outdoor festivals and people are concerned about the anticipated reaction to the Gaza War. The irony of the situation is that for Palestinians, the "bulldozer" is the ultimate symbol of the occupation and immediately after the attack, the Jerusalem Mayor called for the destruction of the home(s) of the attacker and his family by, of course, a bulldozer. Amazingly, Israelis don't seem to see the dual symbolism of the bulldozer and are simply appalled that it would be used for destruction and not as the intended construction equipment.

For those of you who pay attention to stuff like this, the left-wing Haaretz newspaper article said the bus was empty and there were not other injuries while the right-wing Jerusalem Post article said the bus was filled with teenage girls and several people were treated for shock.
See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1068909.html

THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND

This was the sign announcing the bathrooms in a local restaurant, kind of creepy don't you think?

I ride buses all the time in Jerusalem. I don’t want to borrow my friend Vardit’s car and even if I did, I think I would be scared. I practiced driving last Saturday when nobody was on the road except Christians who I hoped had a more pleasant driving style than the Jewish/Arab Israelis. In any case, the buses are a trip from the drivers and passengers to the routes and fares. Here are some brief comments.

Maps: There are about 60 bus routes and one Hebrew map on the web which identifies the routes of 5 of the most popular lines. There are no other maps of any kind, nothing is posted at the stop, except the number of the bus, if you want to know where a bus goes, you have to ask, and everyone asks all the time. I met a guy at a bus stop and he asked me “what bus goes to the Central Bus Station” and I responded very confidently, “Only Bus #6.” (which was true). He then proceeded to approach everyone of the other 10 people at the bus stop and asked the same question, all with the same answer and then as each new bus arrived (#’s 9, 19, 32 and 18) he asked the same question of each bus driver. Finally, a #6 came; he asked and then got on board. Every person at every bus stop seems to go through the exact same process.

Note: asking directions in Israel seems to be a social custom much like when people chat about the weather or sports in the U.S. Even when you pretty much know where you are going, you still ask people who look clueless for directions. Another variation of this insight is that people often give wrong directions, it is very unusual for someone to say, "I don't know where that is." Instead, people seem to prefer giving bad information rather than admit that they simply don't know, even I have gotten into the habit of just pointing in any direction and confidently saying, "its right over there."

Drivers: Bus drivers are clearly made of different stuff than the rest of us mortals. They often are on their cell phones, some even read the newspaper while driving and they are constantly talking to other drivers eventhough nobody can hear them except the passengers. To start with, bus drivers have to handle all the fare payments. A standard fare is 5 shekels and 9 argots which means anyone paying their fare in cash will have to get change (this would not be true if the fare was an even number like 5 or 6 shekels) Then everyone’s fare is different, seniors, students, children, and soldiers and there are different paper passes like all day, two day and one month, and 10 pass, 50 pass, all of which have to be hole punched by the driver.

Now here is the fun part. The driver is always in a hurry so the bus races up to the stop, quickly opens the doors and then while people are piling in, the doors close and the bus takes off. There are loud screams of protest of passengers who didn't make it on or off. Then while the bus is leaving the stop and merging into traffic, the driver start punching tickets, making change and processing all the different fares and tickets. It’s really an amazing operation. Of course since the bus goes so fast, it is constantly accelerating or suddenly stopping, which throws all the old people who are standing INCLUDING MYSELF, all over the inside of the bus.

Passengers: It is trite to say that bus passengers are aggressive and impolite, that goes without saying. What is fascinating is the diversity of the people with these characteristics and the many styles they display. To start with, nobody lines up, EVER. When the doors open a group of people get off at exactly the same time and in the same place as the people who are getting on. There are certain rituals, such as the asking for directions (see above) and depending on the mood it seems that some bus drivers always say “no” the bus doesn’t go there or “yes” the bus does go there, but I don’t think the answer is ever correct. There are continual arguments, most of which I don’t understand because they are in Hebrew. Fares are always disputed, as are seat arrangements and of course people are just normally having arguments about politics and life in general.

Cell phones are everywhere and are constantly going off, people answer and talk loudly without much objection from nearby passengers. Ultra-orthodox men will not sit next to women for fear that they will touch them so there is a lot of moving around. There are special orthodox buses run by the city in which women MUST sit in the back and men sit in the front. Everyone brings bags of stuff, mostly groceries and it is not uncommon for a person to sit in one seat and put their bags on the adjacent seat, even though the bus is packed with people. This of course results in more arguments. In all fairness, I must point out that most young people do give their seats to old people, LIKE ME. The first time it happened I was really shocked and thankful, now I always expect it and am upset when it doesn’t happen.

Every morning I take the #18 bus to my Hebrew class and one day I noticed this plaque at the bus stop. Five years ago on February 22nd a #18 bus was blown up by a suicide bomber and 8 people were killed. One of them was the owner of Vardit's first dog. It was a chilling feeling seeing the memorial and thinking about what it meant and what had happened on exactly this same spot.

Obviously, the scariest part is the possibility of a terrorist attack. People are always watching and racial profiling. I saw a driver refuse to open the door for a weird looking Arab guy with a big package. Of course every bus has a couple of 18 year old soldiers with machine guns and amazingly that gives one a feeling of security.

Traffic: The buses seem to always be playing a game of chicken with taxis and old people. Generally, the rule is that a taxi will always back down, but that old people never back down. I was on a bus that nail a taxi, then the taxi chased the bus for several blocks and cut the bus off and then the two drivers really went at it. On the other hand, old people walk right in front of a moving bus and simply dare it to hit them. So far the bus has always backed down, but there have been many close calls. Since many of the old streets are very narrow and cars tend to park on both sides usually half-way up on the sidewalk, the distance between two passing buses can be only a few inches. Surprisingly, I seem to be the only person on the bus who thinks this is a close call and I am constantly covering my eyes and expecting the worst, but apparently the few inches is more than enough space because nobody ever gets hit.

SOCCER FEVER: CATCH IT

Two prominent signs in the U.S. Cultural Center Library which announce the new WiFi system of free on-line computers. Actually, the library is great with a huge DVD selection, current American magazines and lots of English language books on Middle-Eastern affairs.

It was a dark and stormy night...; really it was.

For the whole last week I have been planning to attend the big soccer game between Beitar Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The 21,000 seat Teddy Stadium, which is an eyesore to my friend Vardit, dominates the view outside my bedroom window so the joy and novelty of walking to the stadium was a big turn-on for me. At 3 in the afternoon I laid down for a nap and at 7:30, was awakened by a brilliant lightning strike and huge thunder clap which shook the house. I should point out that my first thought as I was startled awake was that the “end of days” had finally come to Jerusalem, but alas that was not the case.

I jumped out of bed, threw on my clothes, and rushed out the door. I heard Vardit say, “don’t worry you are only a half hour late.” This is the same person who recently asked me if football is the game that uses the ball shaped like an egg, so that pretty well captures her level of sports comprehension.

As I approached the stadium, the rain was coming down and there were no people milling around outside; curious I thought. I went up to the darkened ticket window and tapped on the glass. A face peered out and when I asked for a ticket, it responded, “we’re closed.” I said, “I want to go to the game.” The face answered, “sorry it’s too late” and disappeared. I couldn’t believe it and at that instant an old Arab man approached me holding a wrinkled ticket and imploring me to buy it in some language I didn’t understand. The image was so weird; here I was on a deserted parking lot, alone with an Israeli scalper and cheers of fans wafting up from the stadium. I said, “how much” and I thought he said in broken English, “whatever you want.” The smallest bill I had was 50 shekels ($12.50) and he seem ecstatic, grabbed the money, delivered the ticket and disappeared into the darkness. An Angel of Mercy, so Jerusalem I thought. I have since learned that the ticket was a free complementary one for no charge; what an American Sucker, the angel must have thought.

An empty stadium, a steady downpour of rain and a kosher hotdog, it doesn't get much better that this.

As I entered the stadium it appeared about 75% empty, but the 25% of the fans in attendance were predictably going nuts. To make a long and very wet story short, the match went on and on to a 0-0 tie at the 90 minute mark. The monotony was broken up by intermittent rain, a surprisingly good, kosher hotdog, and the spectacle of hysterical soccer fans cheering numerous missed shots on goal. It will always be a mystery to me why soccer fans get so excited about missed shots. Anyway, the game went into the injury time. (for those unfamiliar with the rules, after 90 minutes the game can continue for a short time to make up for minutes lost as players rolled around on the ground in pain from being injured) The phenomena is especially interesting because the main scoreboard clock is stopped at “90” and nobody, except the referee knows how long the injury time will last, the only sure thing is that the time will not be long. While keeping one eye on the field, everyone was dejectedly heading towards the exits, resigned to a uneventful tie game.

Magically and unpredictably as this always seems to happen in soccer, there suddenly were a lot of players directly in front of the opponents goal, the ball was rolling around exposed on the ground, everyone assumed that time must surely have run out by now and then BANG, BANG there was a shot, a goal and the game ending whistle. It was the most amazing and cathartic ending I’ve ever witnessed. The crowd was stunned; frozen in time and then exploded with excitement. What a dumb, stupid, exhilarating sport is this game of soccer. It is truly unfathomable to my American sports mind.

RETURNING TO THE ANSWER, THE REST OF YOU CAN REMAIN WITH THE QUESTION.

My traveling companions to Jerusalem. The dog on the left is "Splat" from
Eli's racquetball days and the dog on the right was recently re-named "Bama" and whose origin we think is a prize won at the Marin Summer Faire, circa 2001.

I have returned to Jerusalem, hence the reference to “returning to the answer”; when recently asked, I suddenly realized that I had forgotten what the question was, damn, getting old sucks. Then, a friend asked if I was still going to keep blogging since her aging mother enjoyed reading it, so that is what it has come to, my targeted demographics; women over 80. Anyway, I’ll give a try and see how far I can go and remain interesting and insightful.

I want to use this first installment to review what it takes to leave a comfortable middle-class life in the states. After having disengaging myself from all the ties I had in Berkeley in May, 2008, I returned for a 4 month stay from October, 2008 to January, 2009. It’s amazing how quickly one can load up on “things” and thus have to start the disengagement process all over again. The U.S. cell phone gets reinstated and then gets returned, the Kaiser health plan gets reestablished and then gets cancelled, items that got thrown away never to be need again, like an alarm clock, have to be repurchased. The one thing I didn’t sign up for, an internet connection, was sorely missed and as a result I spent all my time wandering around my apartment and the neighborhood looking for unprotected WiFi. I eventually found “Tinkerbell” some poor unsuspecting internet user who I continually stole bandwidth from. I felt terribly guilty, especially when I must have slowed down her/his connection and then it suddenly came alive when I logged off. Is it illegal to steal bandwidth; if I go to prison for this is it a crime I can be proud of or will my cell mate “Bubba” think less of me.
One last thing, whenever I leave, everyone feels a need to take me for a good-bye dinner. There are lots of pledges of support, cries of missing you, hugs, etc. The first time I left, I even got cute little hand-written messages and gifts. The second time, there were no messages, fewer hugs, but still free dinner. I’m not sure how deep is this well of good-byes and how often one can go to it. I suspect we are getting close to the end. As always, because I was going to Jerusalem, I promised everyone that I would pray for them, but after awhile, even that gets old. I mean, face it, God (or if you prefer the goddess) does not really listen to me, as was obvious when UCLA, the team I prayed for, lost the national championship.

For Harry Potter fans, this is the exciting view at the King's Cross Station where one can board the Hogwart's Express. I took this picture on my layover in London and apparently some kids have thrown themselves at this wall trying to get on the train.

Two views of the huge apartment complex facing my friend Vardit's house in Jerusalem. On the top is the view when I left Jerusalem in the fall, on the bottom the view today. I present this picture to refute the believe that Jerusalem is a timeless city in which nothing changes.

Going Back to California

I have packed up my bags and am ready to return home to “civilization.” I am especially proud of the fact that everything I have fits into one large carry on bag. I also have a shoulder bag, which in pop culture is referred to as a “murse” and that is my only new addition to my traveling ensemble. My goal on this trip was to keep my “foot print” small, of course one has the luxury of doing this when other people’s foot print is large. Thus, I don’t need to own a TV, because the apartment I rented had a huge HD TV already installed. I admit that is cheating and I get to look and act like St. Francis of Assisi while I get to enjoy all the benefits of the penthouse suite at the Vatican. (to mix some metaphors.)

Ben Gurion Airport. There is nothing in the world like this airport. All day long people are coming in from all over the world some in rags escaping something, some coming to Israel for a new life, others visiting love ones who have previously made the trip, lots of young kids on their Birthright trip, and of course there are always the pilgrims, some coming to see where Jesus walked, other to see the Wailing Wall. There are even people who think they are the new mesiah and this group is afflicted with what is commonly called Jerusalem Syndrome. Everytime I go to the airport, tears come to my eyes, there is just so much human emotion being expressed by the crowds.

The huge temple like columns dominate the arrival hall and the digital schedule board gives a nice glimpse of the international character of the flights coming and going.

Two things happened to me as I was leaving Israel. First, I walked to the main street with my bags, stood 10 feet from the corner and waited patiently to hail a cab to the airport. A cute Israeli woman in a mini-skirt, go-go boots, cigarette and talking on a cell phone walked up to a spot 5 feet from the corner and immediately hailed the first passing cab. She never looked at me and never gave any thought to the fact that there was a cab-hailing protocol which generally favors a first-come, first-serve. Second, when I got on the plane, the stewardess made the announcement that the flight would take 12 hours and 15 minutes from Israel to Toronto. Immediately, the call light above the seat in front of me went on and (excuse the stereo-type) but a large, heavy-set Israeli man, with a kipa on his head, summoned the stewardess. What followed was a very heated and loud (on his part) discussion, actually argument, that the distance to Toronto could not be 12.25 hours, but had to be 11.5 hours. The man claimed he had made this trip a hundred times and it had never taken 12.25 hours. The stewardess (Air Canadian) said there were many variables like wind and weather, but the Israeli man would not let go of it. I have watched a discussion/argument like this a hundred times in Israel, almost always in Hebrew and never understand what the fight was about. Now that I heard it in English, I still didn’t understand what the fight was about.

When the first leg of my return journey landed in Toronto, I stood patiently in the passport inspection line and saw a woman struggling with her small child. I told her she could go ahead of me and she turned to me and said, “thank you very much.” Shortly thereafter, a man bumped his cart into my leg and apologized profusely. Even when I arrived in LA, while rushing to get to the shuttle bus, I got to the door at the exact same time as another rider and heard him say, “after you.” I was stunned. The idea that Americans, no less, could teach other people (ie Israelis) about politeness was a staggering insight.

But I don’t want this to sound so harsh. Clearly, Israelis operate on two levels. There is the street level in which it appears that everyone is in their own world, I almost never made eye contact with anyone and when I did, it was almost always with a foreigner. People function on the street in a personal bubble, which means they get on a bus as soon as the doors open, they talk on a cell phone loudly in a crowded elevator, wherever it rings and they can smoke a cigarette an inch from your face and never think twice about it. On the other hand, (as Tavio in Fiddler on the Roof would say) once a connection is made, Israelis will give you everything they have. This is especially true with the older women I met. I was fed and toured to death by Israelis who had almost instantly accepted me as their friend. Once a connection was made, I was taken into homes and into confidences effortlessly. I was constantly overwhelmed by the commonality of Jew to Jew, even though I am hardly a Jew in the traditional sense. I would have to say that that for me, a Jew from the Midwest, (there is a movie called Yiddle in the Middle on this very subject) I found the instant rapport of Jew-to-Jew to be almost magical and amazingly satisfying. I think in the end that feeling was larger and more profound than the constant irritation of what seemed like the incredibly disrespectful and boorish Israeli street personality.

Here is a picture of my last sunset on the Mediterranean while sitting on a Tel Aviv beach and shortly thereafter I took a picture from my Berkeley window of the sun setting over the Pacific.

One of the most bizarre images from the streets of Jerusalem. A team of about 20 Israeli soldiers, I think they were officer trainees, were running around crazy with a list of what looked like items on a scavenger hunt. As they found different items, they would check them off of their list and rush off to find the next item. It seemed like great fun, except the Uzi machine guns always give me pause.