Counting my blessings... and the usual rant about Israel's survival
I lived in Hamtramck, a tiny little city inside the City of Detroit, for eight years. For one of those years, I was in Israel, and my house was only checked on periodically by my parents. My apartment was never burgled.
Now, I live in Jerusalem, the Holy City. And on the holiday in which we celebrate receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai, my apartment was broken into. Go figure. (It turns out that one of the biggest days for home burglaries in Israel is Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, when most Jews are in shul.)
I was not home at the time, baruch Hashem (thank G-d). Instead, I came home late in the evening after the holiday ended to find that the burglar(s) had broken the bars on one of my windows and just popped on in.
The only things that were taken were my awesome digital camera and some cash. And my sense of security, of course.
Since I didn't get home until 11:30 at night, I didn't want to call my landlord or the police. Instead, I stayed up until around 3:30 in the morning, stalling, because I was afraid to go to sleep. When I did finally go to bed, I went armed with heavy tools, other assorted heavy tools, and one can of bug spray on each side of the bed. I held the tools in my hands while I dozed on and off for a few hours, before I finally gave up on the idea of actual sleep.
The police were all very nice -- the ones on the phone, and the ones in person. They were all patient with my Hebrew, and none of them tried to switch to English when I didn't understand something -- they just repeated what they'd said more slowly, or used different words to make sure I understood them.
I had issues with reaching my landlord. I know he's unavailable in the mornings, but I'd called his house to see if his wife would know what I should do and when her husband would be home. The wife was very nice. She told me what to do, and that her husband would be home around 11am.
When I didn't hear from him by 11:30, I called his house again. No answer. I called again at 12 -- no answer. At 12:30, his wife answered. I explained that I was finished with the police stuff, but my biggest concern was the lack of bars on my window. She assured me that she would tell him as soon as he got home, and he would get the bars fixed.
After sitting around doing nothing productive for a few hours, I decided I might as well go to work. When I hadn't heard from my landlord by 4:45, I finally decided to call him again.
His wife had not, in fact, told him about what happened.
Nice.
He kept telling me that he'd been home since 12, and I should have called him earlier. I kept saying I'd been trying to call him all day, and that when I spoke to his wife at 12:30, she told me she'd tell him. Oy.
He said he'd try to have the bars fixed yesterday afternoon or this morning.
I came home and was trying to decide if I wanted to stay the night here or not. I had plenty of options, if I didn't want to stay here.
One of the most wonderful blessings to come out of this experience was the outpouring of warmth and hospitality from my friends and acquaintances.
I've always been a bit concerned that if something happened to me with no family in Israel, I would be alone. This event changed that. I had offers from friends, co-workers and acquaintances of dinner... a place to stay for as long as I'd like... even one offer for a friend to come stay here with me. It was amazing.
Also, as I was sitting here last night deciding what to do, I heard my neighbors outside looking at the bent bars. Once I realized what they were talking about, I decided to go speak to them and see if they knew when it had actually happened. I'd never really spoken to them before (not that I spoke much to them last night, but I listened while they talked amongst themselves in Hebrew), and it was also a good experience. They were kind and sympathetic and frustrated because they hadn't been around when it happened to stop it. (Of course, they're also concerned for themselves in this, as they should be.)
Anyway, at 9:30 last night, my landlord came and brought the window-bar-fixing guy. The guy took down the old bars, and he's supposed to come back and put the new ones in early this afternoon.
When my neighbords found out I would be without bars for the night, they made sure to tell me they'd be keeping an ear out, and they'd be available if I needed anything.
So, with lots of faith that Hashem would protect me, and my neighbors would be listening out for me, I actually slept last night. And hopefully the new bars will make me feel safer, too, and I'll be able to get past this.
****
My rant:
Recently, I heard the best definitions for "left wing" and "right wing" in Israeli politics that I've ever heard.
I was told that both the left and the right want peace. We want to live peacefully with our neighbors, without fearing for our lives. We want that our neighbors should feel secure, as well.
But the difference is this: The left wing still believes peace is possible, while the right wing has given up believing.
It wasn't so long ago that I changed my self-definition from "moderate" or "middle of the road" to "right wing." And once I heard that breakdown of the difference between left and right, I felt much more secure in my self-definition.
See, I don't believe anymore that our neighbors will allow us to live with any sense of security.
We've already had to build fences and walls (like the bars on my windows), to try and protect ourselves. Yet every time we find a way to give ourselves a sense of security, the terrorists (I'm not so right-wing [yet] that I'm going to blame all the Arabs.) find a way to kill that sense.
Right now, the war on Sderot has gotten to a point where something like half the residents have fleed the city.
And in the midst of this, a group of Israeli Arab "moderates and intellectuals" has released a set of documents outlining their "vision of what Israel should be." (See link for more information: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1178708666171&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull )
The end result?
The destruction of the Jewish State.
This is from the moderates? I'd expect it from "intellectuals," as they usually lean left and have their heads in the clouds anyway. But the moderates?
In these documents, the moderates want:
The establishment of a Palestinian state whose residents would have the right to move to Israel, and Israeli Arabs would be able to move to the Palestinian state.
The right of return to all the descendents of Arab "refugees."
The repeal of the Law of Return that allows Jews from all over the world to immigrate to Israel.
The State of Israel to be a "state based on equality between the two national groups."
The Israeli Arabs to have veto power over any issue that might affect them.
Now, some of the items above don't sound bad... until you look further into them and see that what it all comes down to is that Jews don't have any right to self-determination.
Is it any wonder that I've given up on the idea of peace?
Now, I live in Jerusalem, the Holy City. And on the holiday in which we celebrate receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai, my apartment was broken into. Go figure. (It turns out that one of the biggest days for home burglaries in Israel is Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, when most Jews are in shul.)
I was not home at the time, baruch Hashem (thank G-d). Instead, I came home late in the evening after the holiday ended to find that the burglar(s) had broken the bars on one of my windows and just popped on in.
The only things that were taken were my awesome digital camera and some cash. And my sense of security, of course.
Since I didn't get home until 11:30 at night, I didn't want to call my landlord or the police. Instead, I stayed up until around 3:30 in the morning, stalling, because I was afraid to go to sleep. When I did finally go to bed, I went armed with heavy tools, other assorted heavy tools, and one can of bug spray on each side of the bed. I held the tools in my hands while I dozed on and off for a few hours, before I finally gave up on the idea of actual sleep.
The police were all very nice -- the ones on the phone, and the ones in person. They were all patient with my Hebrew, and none of them tried to switch to English when I didn't understand something -- they just repeated what they'd said more slowly, or used different words to make sure I understood them.
I had issues with reaching my landlord. I know he's unavailable in the mornings, but I'd called his house to see if his wife would know what I should do and when her husband would be home. The wife was very nice. She told me what to do, and that her husband would be home around 11am.
When I didn't hear from him by 11:30, I called his house again. No answer. I called again at 12 -- no answer. At 12:30, his wife answered. I explained that I was finished with the police stuff, but my biggest concern was the lack of bars on my window. She assured me that she would tell him as soon as he got home, and he would get the bars fixed.
After sitting around doing nothing productive for a few hours, I decided I might as well go to work. When I hadn't heard from my landlord by 4:45, I finally decided to call him again.
His wife had not, in fact, told him about what happened.
Nice.
He kept telling me that he'd been home since 12, and I should have called him earlier. I kept saying I'd been trying to call him all day, and that when I spoke to his wife at 12:30, she told me she'd tell him. Oy.
He said he'd try to have the bars fixed yesterday afternoon or this morning.
I came home and was trying to decide if I wanted to stay the night here or not. I had plenty of options, if I didn't want to stay here.
One of the most wonderful blessings to come out of this experience was the outpouring of warmth and hospitality from my friends and acquaintances.
I've always been a bit concerned that if something happened to me with no family in Israel, I would be alone. This event changed that. I had offers from friends, co-workers and acquaintances of dinner... a place to stay for as long as I'd like... even one offer for a friend to come stay here with me. It was amazing.
Also, as I was sitting here last night deciding what to do, I heard my neighbors outside looking at the bent bars. Once I realized what they were talking about, I decided to go speak to them and see if they knew when it had actually happened. I'd never really spoken to them before (not that I spoke much to them last night, but I listened while they talked amongst themselves in Hebrew), and it was also a good experience. They were kind and sympathetic and frustrated because they hadn't been around when it happened to stop it. (Of course, they're also concerned for themselves in this, as they should be.)
Anyway, at 9:30 last night, my landlord came and brought the window-bar-fixing guy. The guy took down the old bars, and he's supposed to come back and put the new ones in early this afternoon.
When my neighbords found out I would be without bars for the night, they made sure to tell me they'd be keeping an ear out, and they'd be available if I needed anything.
So, with lots of faith that Hashem would protect me, and my neighbors would be listening out for me, I actually slept last night. And hopefully the new bars will make me feel safer, too, and I'll be able to get past this.
****
My rant:
Recently, I heard the best definitions for "left wing" and "right wing" in Israeli politics that I've ever heard.
I was told that both the left and the right want peace. We want to live peacefully with our neighbors, without fearing for our lives. We want that our neighbors should feel secure, as well.
But the difference is this: The left wing still believes peace is possible, while the right wing has given up believing.
It wasn't so long ago that I changed my self-definition from "moderate" or "middle of the road" to "right wing." And once I heard that breakdown of the difference between left and right, I felt much more secure in my self-definition.
See, I don't believe anymore that our neighbors will allow us to live with any sense of security.
We've already had to build fences and walls (like the bars on my windows), to try and protect ourselves. Yet every time we find a way to give ourselves a sense of security, the terrorists (I'm not so right-wing [yet] that I'm going to blame all the Arabs.) find a way to kill that sense.
Right now, the war on Sderot has gotten to a point where something like half the residents have fleed the city.
And in the midst of this, a group of Israeli Arab "moderates and intellectuals" has released a set of documents outlining their "vision of what Israel should be." (See link for more information: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1178708666171&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull )
The end result?
The destruction of the Jewish State.
This is from the moderates? I'd expect it from "intellectuals," as they usually lean left and have their heads in the clouds anyway. But the moderates?
In these documents, the moderates want:
The establishment of a Palestinian state whose residents would have the right to move to Israel, and Israeli Arabs would be able to move to the Palestinian state.
The right of return to all the descendents of Arab "refugees."
The repeal of the Law of Return that allows Jews from all over the world to immigrate to Israel.
The State of Israel to be a "state based on equality between the two national groups."
The Israeli Arabs to have veto power over any issue that might affect them.
Now, some of the items above don't sound bad... until you look further into them and see that what it all comes down to is that Jews don't have any right to self-determination.
Is it any wonder that I've given up on the idea of peace?
posted by M at 08:07
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