Good News: Blue and White Disintegrated

Many people are describing Benny Gantz joining a coalition with the Likud and the disintegration of Blue and White as:

"Gantz blinked first."

Gabi Ashkenazi at Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions football game,
when our sons played on the same team, 12/2010,
Photo by Batya Medad

But I really think that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's "I'm too busy running the country in these difficult times" actions, ignoring Gantz was even more powerful than the classic "staring contest." Honestly, how long can even a political newbie/lightweight like Benny Gantz stare at a blank wall?

I also wonder if Gabi Ashkenazi had anything to do with Gantz's finally giving in. Ashkenazi is the only one of quartet to be joining Gantz in the coalition.

Gabi Ashkenazi at Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions football game,
when our sons played on the same team, 12/2010,
Photo by Batya Medad

Gabi Ashkenazi at
Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions football game,
when our sons played on
the same team, 12/2010,
Photo by unknown. That's me with
the pink gloves.

As you can see in the photos, there was a time when Gabi Ashkenazi and I cheered together for the same football team.  Our sons were top players together on the IFL Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions, that's American tackle football. He liked to sit right behind us, and never put on "airs." At the time Ashkenazi was head of the IDF, but he made time for cheering the team.

At this point most Israelis are sick and tired of all the political bickering and shenanigans, and we certainly don't want more elections.

The corona virus aka COVID-19 lock-down is causing us enough stress, and here in Israel, even the less Torah observant want to prepare in some way for Passover. Few people have sympathy for the MKs and party leaders who are looking for ways to gain political power during these difficult times. Even those who didn't vote for Bibi/Likud are impressed by how hard his team is working to get us through this epidemic with minimal casualties.  Other countries are in much worse shape.

It's Friday, and corona/COVID-19 or not, Shabbat will be in a few hours. May it be peaceful and healing.

Wonderful Aliyah Story, "From Big Whine to Big Grapes"

We bloggers do consider ourselves writers and journalists, but very few of us take the giant step into publishing actual books. Ruti (Mizrachi) Eastman has taken that great daring leap and published "From Big Whine to Big Grapes" not that long ago. It's a collection of blog posts supplemented by essays specially written for this book. Ruti blogs on two blogs, Ki Yachol Nuchal! and  Never Ruthless.

Ruti writes a lot about her and her family's aliyah, move to Israel. They came from the United States, and she's not shy about admitting that without the assistance of Nefesh B'Nefesh, they never could have afforded to make the move. At no point does Ruti ever complain. Ruti only sees the good. And good things do happen to the Eastman family, whether it's an amazingly helpful clerk, a ride in the middle of no-place to where they need to go or finding someone they know to lend them cash when the only nearby ATM is empty.

I have no doubt that one of the reasons that people are so nice to Ruti is that she greets them with a smile and is so friendly and upbeat. We do make our own luck. Ruti doesn't go into details, but she does mention that she and her husband chose to be Jewish. Yes, they are converts, and that whole story would no doubt make a very compelling book.

Because Ruti divided "From Big Whine to Big Grapes" into chapters of essays that are connected by content, there isn't a clear chronology to the narrative. It jumps around, which is both good and bad. For the reviewer, like myself, who needs to finish reading the entire book as quickly as possible, it got confusing at first. After reading a couple of chapters, I "got the rhythm." But I think that most readers will, davka, enjoy it, since you'll have the chance to savor various topics and choose what you're interested in, even skipping around the book and rereading when necessary. I'm sure that those dreaming of aliyah or actually planning it for real will really love "From Big Whine to Big Grapes." You can get some very good advice from reading it. And it's also a great book to give friends and relatives of olim, to make them feel better concerning the new lives chosen by their loved ones.  And even though my husband and I made aliyah decades before the Eastmans, I really enjoyed reading "From Big Whine to Big Grapes." Some things never change and others have changed enormously.

Those who claim that aliyah is too hard, frequently have money complaints. The Eastmans seem to to have made their Israeli life suit their finances and not attempt to reproduce their American life in Israel on an insufficient budget. They rent an apartment unit in a house and don't have a car. They are happy to be here in Israel and consider the "sacrifices" a good trade-off. The relations with the Hebrew-speaking landlords and hitchhiking adventures make great reading.

Ruti is still struggling to master the Hebrew language, which adds more humor to life here in Israel. Advice to potential olim, immigrants to Israel from Ruti, which I agree with completely, is to learn as much Hebrew as you can before you make aliyah.

You can purchase "From Big Whine to Big Grapes" from Amazon, Lulu, Book Depository or here in Israel, email rutimizrachi@gmail.com directly. Ruti has revealed that there's another book in the works, so stay tuned... I can't wait to read it.

I must confess that Ruti and I are friends. We have a lot of mutual friends, and we sometimes meet at IFL football games. But at the games we cheer for different teams. My son used to tackle her son, but now my son's opponent is Ruti's husband; they are both coaches. We both root for a fair and safe game, one without injured players. We want to see them play like "mensches." 

Ruti wants to "coach" me into writing a book (or books) from the material in my blogs. What do you think?

Branding "Life in Shiloh/Binyamin" to Sell in Tel Aviv

Last week I attended a workshop/seminar run by our local "county," Mateh Binyamin, the Benjamin Regional Council, on how to deal with the media in all types of circumstances and market life in our small towns.

It was held in Yekev Psagot Visitors Center, which is set up to do more than just sell their excellent Psagot wines. As you can see there's a small auditorium. We were given the lowdown, behind the scenes reports on how some of the Binyamin communities coped with the deadly results of Arab terror attacks and reporting to the local and international media.

We live under a magnifying glass, and life isn't dull here. Every single community has some very tragic stories to tell, and we must know how to tell them in a way that shows that nothing will drive us from our homes. We also must protect the families that have been brutally touched by Arab terrorism.

The Regional Council has a professional public relations agency to assist, and one of the more amusing parts of this workshop was when it was mentioned that those professionals, who aren't local, had been transported to the Psagot Winery, just above Mirgron, only a few kilometers north of Jerusalem, by the council in a bullet-proof vehicle. Suddenly there was a big hullabaloo, with people shouting that the road was not considered dangerous, and "Tel Aviv visitors" didn't warrant such special treatment. The participants were arguing over the need for rock-proofing their windows, also, which the government actually pays for if one applies. BYW public transportation Egged Tavura uses ordinary buses to most of the area; only north of Ofra lines, like those to Shiloh, get the bulletproof busses. In all honesty, there have been shootings south of Ofra and even near Psagot, but Jewish residents of that part of Binyamin prefer to think of themselves in a safer place than Shiloh for example.

We were asked by the Public Relations experts for examples of ordinary and exemplary life in the yishuvim so that they could coach us in how to publicize it. And when I mentioned that there are home-grown players and the head coach of the Jerusalem Lions Big Blue Tackle Football Team, I was told that nobody in Tel Aviv would be interested in the fact that there's American football coming out of Mateh Binyamin.  They said that American football does not interest Tel Aviv. (Davka, last week's big victory by the Lions was over the Petach Tikva team.) That's when it hit me that I market (blog) to a different audience.

As everyone can easily see, I write in English, although I have no problem speaking Hebrew and understanding it. Therefore my audience is either abroad (Jews and non-Jews) or other Israelis like myself.

Apparently, the regional council has these workshops periodically, and I'll attend more to see what tips I can get from the experts. But I was disappointed that their focus is so parochial or short-sighted, especially when Israeli politicians and media keep touting that we must please the outside world.

What do you think? I'm curious; please comment, thanks.

Jewish Blog Round Up, Let's Link Up Together

It has been much too long since a Havel Havelim has been posted, so this is rather unofficial.  Yocheved's may have been the last HH. I'm going to include all sorts of posts from various blogs, mostly those I'm familiar with, but as I search, I hope to discover some new ones.  Please share this round-up, comment and also visit and share the various posts.  For Havel Havelim updates, check out our facebook page, thanks.

Enough of an introduction, now to get started giving you a taste of what' s happening in the jblog  (Jewish blogging) world.  Have a Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach, a peaceful and blessed Shabbat.

The second longest running Jewish Blog Carnival is the monthly Kosher Cooking Carnival, posted on Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of each Jewish Month.  It includes all different aspects of kosher food.

Esser Agaroth's posts are always worth more than  2¢.  Read his latest Forbidden First Fruits.

By checking out the blogroll on Esser Agaroth, I discovered this charming aliyah blog post, Shabbat in Givat Ze'ev with the Ever Family.  And through this blog I found The Curious Jew, which has some amazing posts, Poetic Justice in the Deaths of Avner and Amassa? and Mother's Day: A Painful Day?  for example.

Another great jblogger and inspiring person is Yocheved.  Read her  Friending Disabilities.

My friend Miriam thinks she was had.   Read why. Did we Waste our Votes?

Another realtime f2f blogging friend is Ruti, who has a great post about shoes, sushi and her latest soldier.  (A lot of IFL players are glad that he's now in a different uniform.)

Everyone copes differently with challenges.  Read Crossing the Yarden

The Key to Mountain Biking…..and Dealing with Cancer and Superman Sam

Mellow {day 11}

 

Many of us have changed our lives and taken very different roads to do so.  Here's how one woman started:   My First Real Shavuot .

 

I have a question for you: Israel or The USA, Which is the True World Power?

 

Shavuot is more than just cheesecake; isn't it? Shavuot, The Holiday of Jewish Unity

 

I certainly can't leave out politics here: Lapid's Marie Antionette Style Budget

 

Since we're "the People of the Book, here's a book review: Lorri M. Book Review: Country of Ash: A Jewish Doctor in Poland 1939-1945

 

Blogging is something to do in one's "spare time."  A recent HH hostess, Haveil Havelim #405- The Boston Marathon Terror Attack Edition, blogged that her "spare time" has up and left her.  We hope that her life will get simpler soon.

 

I just realized that most of the jbloggers in this little roundup are female.  Hmmm how could that have happened?  I'll try to balance things here.

 

Here's the Mukata Forget Hawking - Invite someone MUCH better!  and Adventures of a Chief Rabbi: Ingredients of Trust and Seraphic Secret's Obama’s Lack of Leadership and Moral Accountability

 

And a post from my husband All You Have to Do is Threaten Violence

 

Let's end this with Dry Bones:

 

 

The IFL All-Star Game, Working Together

As loyal, supportive parents of a top IFL Israel's Tackle Football League top player, we went trooping of to cheer him play at the  first-annual All-Star Game.  It was North versus South, (Jerusalem, Gush Etzion and Beersheva,) but the big question was whether opponents could "bury the hatchet" and play well together as a team.

For many players, the risks of being injured are "worth it" for the team during the regular season, but they have no loyalty to the mix of "enemies" that constitutes the "all-star team."  So the honor of being included could be a very heavy burden.

The players had to refocus, re-identify each other.  And don't forget that the players do this for fun; they don't get paid.  They all have full-time jobs, studies and more to keep them busy, so extra post-season practice isn't easy to schedule.

Everyone showed up, the players, referees and fans.

At first it was more a "defense" game, because the defense players are more in tune with their opposition, doing their best to grab the ball away, by way of tackling.  Except for dividing the field or opposing players, there's less cooperation.  It's not like the offensive players who must pass to teammates and really work very intuitively together.

Since the players' shirts were given out a short while before the game, we had trouble identifying many of the stars.  We learned the names and numbers of those mentioned as scorers and tacklers, but otherwise it was pretty-much a mystery.

That wasn't the only mystery.  Unlike a typical game in season, Itai Ashkenazi, the Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions quarterback was constantly targeted and roughly knocked down by opposing players.  There was more dirt on his uniform as he limped off the field after this one game than all the others combined. Only afterwards did I recall that his former teammates, from the northern team he used to play for, were most probably out to get him for deserting them and joining the Lions.  To his credit, he stuck it out and took the "punishment."

And as the game went on, the players got into the rhythm of it and worked well together.  Sportsmanship was victorious.

The biggest problem for those of us up in the bleachers was that we couldn't figure out how to cheer for our teams.  It just didn't feel natural calling out "North" or "South."  Some people yelled the names of the actual player teams, but the teams weren't playing.  There were also generic calls of "offense" and "defense."  G-d willing, next year the IFL will find two sponsors to cover expenses, buy better quality shirts (one player lost his shirt as it was ripped open very early in the game) and then we'll gladly cheer the sponsor of our favorite all-star team.