Why I love living in Israel

Wandering through some back-streets in downtown Jerusalem yesterday, I stumbled across a small alley (below) which had been furnished with a few benches and trees. Although it wasn't exactly pretty, this little passage had certainly been made less drab.




As I walked along the passage, I saw two notices, captured in the picture above, on one of the walls. I didn't pay too much attention to them at first, but as I approached I noticed that the one on the left was rather different to your average street sign. As I came over to read it, I noticed that something else came, too... a big smile over my face :) Here's the sign from closer up.




For those of you who don't read Hebrew proficiently, the sign reads:
BLESSING OF THE [FRUIT] TREES
In the month of Nissan, Jews customarily recite a blessing upon seeing two blossoming fruit trees: "Blessed are You, Hashem, Lord of the universe, that subtracts nothing from his world, and created in it good creations and good trees, so that mankind may enjoy of them."

It delighted me to see this ancient Jewish tradition being practiced and honoured. But more than that, in this most tumultuous of cities, it was nothing less than lovely to see this simple plaque.

While there can be intense friction between the Haredi sector and the more liberal end of Israeli society, and while Jews and Arabs remain locked in bitter conflict, it was beautiful to see how faith need not be thrust upon others forcefully.

It's such a simple thing, but yet something that makes me so incredibly happy and thankful. To be able to live in a place where Jewish traditions, preserved over centuries of persecution and near-extinction, are now flourishing once again really is an incredible thing. For me, this is the essence of the Jewish state; it's what separates us from all the other countries on earth. For all over the religious struggle between the different streams of Judaism, from the Haredi to the reform, we can all agree on the beauty of blessings such as this and be grateful for seeing our ages-old traditions being brought to the fore in our home city of Jerusalem.

For moments such as this, I truly do thank God.

Sometimes

Living in Israel, sometimes I find myself in a situation where I just have to laugh, be amazed and be thankful all at once. Other people refer to these moments by the phrase, "Only in Israel", which although I don't like to use myself, is one I really do understand.

One such moment happened to me yesterday. Normally I cycle to and from university, but as I had participated in a ceremony to mark Yom HaShoah, I was dressed in smart clothes yesterday and had taken the bus instead. As I walked home from the bus stop, I took a quick glance at where my bicycle was in the morning. I looked away and then did a double-take; my bike was no longer there. I looked again, more intently this time, and told myself that maybe I had left it somewhere else. I had just bought a hefty, thick new lock and was convinced that there was no way someone could have stolen my wheels. Certainly not during daylight hours, anyway.

Coming closer, I saw another bike, about a meter away from where mine had been, but leaning awkwardly against a post that had not been there in the morning. See the pictures below...





And then I realised what had happened. The parking meter to which I locked my bike every day had, for reasons unknown, been deemed unfit for purposes by the authorities. A new pole had been erected a bit closer to the street and the meter itself lifted from the old pole and attached to the new one. Now this is the part that fills me with pride at my country. Instead of leaving my bike attached to a pole or leaving it on the street so that anybody could have stolen it, the workers evidently lifted it up over the old pole, put it over the new one and then attached the meter, thus keeping my bike safely locked up.

I don't want to slur other countries or say this for certain, but I highly doubt that this would have happened to me if I still lived in England. Sometimes, as I said, life in Israel throws up a situations where I just have to laugh, be amazed and be thankful all at once. I love it :)

Once in a while...

Every so often in Israel, I stumble across things that really cause me to worry.

As I was leaving shul one morning last month I took the photograph below. Apparently this father and son ride the mean streets of Jerusalem together. It looks kind of cute if you ask me, if you conveniently ignore the minor issue that this tomfoolery is only mildy life-threatening. Yes, it's even more dangerous than my ill-advised headphone-enhanced urban cycling. Seriously, what kind of responsible parent would even dream of giving an infant a ride on the back of a speeding motorcycle through a bustling city like Jerusalem, a town with tight streets and angry motorists?

It seemed like the kid in question actually wasn't all too fussed and that he was fairly used to this "hold on to Aba for dear life" drill, but still - kids are liable to get distracted or do stupid things.

You really do have to wonder about some people's common sense.