Posts
from Oct. 10, 2009:
Not that you asked, but
I am sitting here beside my wife,
we are both in our underpants,
we have attempted our first baking endeavor in Israel
It went... poorly
Apparently there is a thing here called "Celsius"...
we just made a bread pudding and brownies from scratch,
(ahem)
The tops are burned, the middles are uncooked.
They're like sweet, little, bi-racial still-born children.
...and we shall eat whatever we can, then abort the uncooked placenta filling.
Friday, November 6
Fear and Loathing in the Holy Land
I love the genius that is Aaron Sorkin.
Creator and overlord of the "The West Wing."
Just watch "The West Wing"-- the arguments between Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman and his dutiful assistant Donatella Moss rival anything you might find in the Talmud.
Playing Devil's advocate, that's what the art of Jewish argument is all about. "I'm not saying I believe what I'm saying, but for those who do..."
That love of argumentation and scrutinization of every aspect of a situation over-analyzing is on display in some of the most prolific minds of the last half century.
Alan Dershowitz and Larry David and the pain-in-the-ass hagglers at the shuk, the open-air market in the heart of Jerusalem.
My wife and I arrived in the Holy Land Thursday afternoon, October 1st of this year.
Two nights later, Saturday night, we went to a bar on Ben Yehuda Street, the closest thing to Times Square in Jerusalem.
About 6 square blocks of ice cream stores, bars, felafel stands and desperate musicians peddling their wares. Quaint, compared to New York.
Then the wife and I returned to our apartment, 20 minutes outside the hub of the capitol.
Lying in bed, midnight, Saturday night, full of alcohol, we did what any married couple would do... we watched DVDs of "The West Wing."
Season 3, Episode 5--
Nancy McNally, The National Security Advisor to fictional President Josiah Bartlet, relayed some bad news.
Nancy McNally: "A bomb went off outside a cafe on Ben Yehuda in Jerusalem. It was a suicide bomber, 10 people were killed, 125 injured, mostly young adults... two of the dead were American students."
[Gulp]
My wife and I looked at each other, eyebrows raised and eyes panicked.
And you know what we did the next night?
We joined a couple Israeli friends and went right back to Ben Yehuda Street... because that's what Israelis do. They look fear in the eye, they face threats and danger, and they say (in an Israeli accent), "Ehhh, to the hell with you! I no scared of your ass!"
There's a reason so many Israelis appear rude, brusque, rough around the edges.
It's because they are.
It's because they have to be, for as long as they (or anyone) can remember,
and as long as the Bible has been in circulation---
Jews in the whole world, but especially the Middle East, have had to be tough.
Just to get through the day.
Creator and overlord of the "The West Wing."
Just watch "The West Wing"-- the arguments between Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman and his dutiful assistant Donatella Moss rival anything you might find in the Talmud.
Playing Devil's advocate, that's what the art of Jewish argument is all about. "I'm not saying I believe what I'm saying, but for those who do..."
That love of argumentation and scrutinization of every aspect of a situation over-analyzing is on display in some of the most prolific minds of the last half century.
Alan Dershowitz and Larry David and the pain-in-the-ass hagglers at the shuk, the open-air market in the heart of Jerusalem.
My wife and I arrived in the Holy Land Thursday afternoon, October 1st of this year.
Two nights later, Saturday night, we went to a bar on Ben Yehuda Street, the closest thing to Times Square in Jerusalem.
About 6 square blocks of ice cream stores, bars, felafel stands and desperate musicians peddling their wares. Quaint, compared to New York.
Then the wife and I returned to our apartment, 20 minutes outside the hub of the capitol.
Lying in bed, midnight, Saturday night, full of alcohol, we did what any married couple would do... we watched DVDs of "The West Wing."
Season 3, Episode 5--
Nancy McNally, The National Security Advisor to fictional President Josiah Bartlet, relayed some bad news.
Nancy McNally: "A bomb went off outside a cafe on Ben Yehuda in Jerusalem. It was a suicide bomber, 10 people were killed, 125 injured, mostly young adults... two of the dead were American students."
[Gulp]
My wife and I looked at each other, eyebrows raised and eyes panicked.
And you know what we did the next night?
We joined a couple Israeli friends and went right back to Ben Yehuda Street... because that's what Israelis do. They look fear in the eye, they face threats and danger, and they say (in an Israeli accent), "Ehhh, to the hell with you! I no scared of your ass!"
There's a reason so many Israelis appear rude, brusque, rough around the edges.
It's because they are.
It's because they have to be, for as long as they (or anyone) can remember,
and as long as the Bible has been in circulation---
Jews in the whole world, but especially the Middle East, have had to be tough.
Just to get through the day.
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