SIX/SHOUT Toldot

November 25, 2008 Somebody shouted in the middle of the night: ‘DIE!’ It woke me up – a woman’s voice, in my building or very nearby: shrill, young, and angry. And then – silence, the Jerusalem night resumes, I am deep inside the covers, 3am, cold outside. I haven’t lived here long enough to know […]

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FIVE Fall (in Love)

What’s love got to do with it? I am sitting with Dorit Bat Shalom, an old friend of mine, at a Café in the German Colony and we’re talking about our elderly parents and about our children (and her grandchildren) and about love. We’re both single – so it’s a hot topic. “You know, it’s […]

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FOUR/VaYera/RUBBERNECK

November 11, 2008 My father and I are walking in the park outside their home. It’s a sunny Friday afternoon in Jerusalem, children are playing,  birds fly about. and from nearby East Jerusalem the call of the Muezzin is heard, calling the worshippers to the mosque. Soon it will be sundown and the Sabbath-Siren will […]

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THREE/Lech Lech/LOOK UP

November 5, 2008 When was the last time I laughed like this? Belly deep, open mouth, a great relief, cheering wildly, clapping, very very happy?  When was the last time I cried like this, in public, not caring that I’m surrounded by strangers, so deeply moved…? It felt like reaching a mountain top, after a […]

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TWO/NOAH/GET OUT

 October 30,2008 All around Jerusalem the olive trees are full of ripe fruit these days – harvest season is well underway, but this is not a year of bounty. Last year’s scarce rains have provided for a leaner harvest throughout the region (water sanctions were announced today), and for Palestinians in the West Bank trouble […]

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