(This entry updated 2023-11-07 to correct that the Jewess from Ethiopia is in the police, not army. Thank you M.T.)
This substack started as a home for my divrei Torah. It has been "borrowed" for these essays-during-wartime. I meant to celebrate hitting 150 posts, but see that has come and gone in the midst of posting daily. This is #158.
"Yeah" "Tada"
I am just back from Yoga... at my favorite studio. I feel great!
The woofing washing machine still hasn't finished. Ouch. (Washers outside the U.S. typically conform to European efficiency standards... which makes them... slow... [more time, less water and electricity]. I like the principle, but am not accustomed to the reality.)
Also Celebrated... Not...
My one year anniversary in Israel came and went without notice. (It was yesterday.)
Heard
Falling in Battle
Friends of friends are dying in uniform. A full (growing daily) list of soldiers is here.
Read
One Small Story (From the Israeli Press)
סלמאן חבקה, a Druze, was killed on November 1
סא"ל סלמאן חבקה, בן 33 מהכפר הדרוזי יאנוח-ג'ת, הותיר אישה וילד בן שנתיים. במהלך התקלות עם מחבלים הלילה סלאמן הסתער תוך חירוף הנפש עם הטנק שלו במהלך חיפוי ללוחמי גולני. הוא נהרג במקום. סלמאן הגיע לדרום בשבת השחורה והיה הראשון שנכנס לקרבות עם מחבלים בקיבוץ בארי וחיסל עשרות מהם. Lt. Col. Salman Habakah, 33 years old from the Druze village of Yanuh-Jat, left behind a wife and a two-year-old child. During the clashes with the terrorists last night, Salman fiercely charged with his tank while covering for Golani fighters. He was killed on the spot. Salman arrived in the south on Black Saturday and was The first to engage in battles with terrorists in Kibbutz Bari and eliminated dozens of them.
This paragraph captures essential Israeli truths and attributes:
Fierce fighter
Multi-ethnic Israel
Successful soldier
Family man/woman
Seen
Related Observation
When in Israel in, a tour bus, or rental car, a lot is missed. This society heavily uses transit. (And has a ton of very good transit.) The languages that can be heard (many). The colors seen. (The cornrows below are the point. This Jewess from Ethiopia was in a group of four female police officers. Seen on the train from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.)
Or, in motion:
Or in the words of a young Bedouin woman (4 minutes):
Read 2
I am so inured to this language I almost don’t see it. It says right there that Egypt borders Gaza (good). But fails to state the obvious: That the blockade of Gaza is as much Egypt’s doing as Israel’s. (Yes, Raf has reported this observation to the editors at the Washington Post.)
Gaza, a tragically unwanted land and people.
Have I Seen It All?
The oldest son of Shas Chairman (and ex-convict) Aryeh Deri, Yanki, aged 40, has signed up for military service.
(Shas is a political party of the Ultra Orthodox and generally agitates for religious Jews to be exempt from the military draft.)
Relief Area
Alef
Mamad means: Bomb shelter (or Safe Room). This stuff is actually for sale on line.
Bet
Needed eggs. Checked four boxes looking for "Together we will win" on the eggs, but didn't find it. Will keep looking. Stay tuned to the Relief Area section for updates.
Gimmel
חמאס מאיים שהוא יכול לירות עד הצפון
חזבאלה מאיים שהוא יכול לירות עד הדרום
עוד מאמץ קטן והם יורים אחד על השניHamas [who is in Gaza, in the South] threatens that they can fire rockets at the North
Hizbollah [in Lebanon in the North] threatens that they can fire rockets at the South
With a bit more effort they can shoot at each other
Onward
I am having a bite of lunch, mopping my floors, and heading to Jerusalem for Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom
Raf
(Thanks to A.K., for material and to S.Z. for the Beals quote below.)
“Until I am welcomed everywhere as an equal simply because I am human, I remain a warrior on a battlefield that I must not leave. I continue to be a warrior who does not cry but who instead takes action. If one person is denied equality, we are all denied equality.”
A contemporary quote from Melba Patillo Beals, one of the Little Rock Nine.