Irene Lancaster's Diary

Holocaust Memorial Day in Arabic - on Israel's 60th

Today my friend came round for dinner and brought a memorial light so that we could remember the Holocaust, when 6 million, including members of both our families, perished in the Holocaust. Ours were in Poland.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/979478.html

Her son rang her and then my daughter phoned me and said she would be attending a ceremony in Tel Aviv and visiting me for Shabbat.

We turned on the TV and watched the very moving ceremony at Yad Vashem. Both the President and Prime Minister were dignified. The amazing people who had been chosen to light candles told their tragic Holocaust stories which through their own efforts they had turned into transformative experiences, helped by the State of Israel.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208870533584&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The music, played on harmonicas by children, was haunting. But the thing that meant the most to me was to have turned on the Arabic channel by mistake and to hear the story of Europe's Jews being told in Arabic.

This must be one of the great miracles of Israel.

What is Pesach for? Gefilte fish or freedom from slavery

A thoughtful post by Rabbi Jeremy Rosen on the increasing expense of being Jewish, especially at Pesach time

http://www.jeremyrosen.com/blog/2008/04/freedom-from-what.html

With the expense of travel and food (although in Israel the latter tends to be cheaper than in England, and sometimes cheaper at Pesach than at other times during the year), what is Pesach really for?

Is it to remember that we were slaves in Egypt, and that we continue daily to be slaves to our desires, emotions and ambitions, or is it a time when no expense should be spared to reunite one's family, scattered all over the world?

Or maybe is it a bit of both?

All I know is that I have plenty of food left over and am glad that I've just been invited to a party, so will be able to donate the gefilte fish and orange cake that somehow just didn't get to be eaten last week.

Another blistering day: time for the matzah brei

On another sizzling morning, we went for our daily early morning swim and, on arriving back, were told by our Liverpudlian neighbours that it was the hottest Pesach in Israel since the 50s!

Which is no doubt why we elected to have matzah brei, to use up two cracked eggs and the cinnamon we had bought in masses before the festival.

Matzah brei is made of eggs, water or milk, oil, sugar and cinnamon and ressembles a pancake or latke. It is of Ashkenazi origin and would certainly suit colder climes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matzah_brei.

But it was delicious and will no doubt fortify us on our blistering train journey to Tel Aviv at noon.

Brei comes from the German, meaning paste, or pulp (as in 'beaten to a ....'). I wonder if it is therefore supposed to symbolise mortar, like the charoset eaten at the Seder, and also the slaves in Egypt.

Just a thought!

It's just two weeks until Israel's 60th and the flags and bunting are out in full in Haifa - in contrast with this reaction to yesterday's St. George's Day in Bradford:

http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2008/04/st-georges-day-cancelled.html

In many ways England and Israel are miles apart: physically, emotionally, intellectually, psychologically, spiritually.

A pity really, because they could really learn from each other.

The Book Thief

I've just finished reading The Book Thief.

A friend lent it me and it's the only book I've every read which I feel transcends commentary.

For those who want commentary, here's plenty:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Thief-Markus-Zusak/dp/0385611463

Of khamsins and centipedes

Well, the khamsin sand-storm has well and truly arrived, as we battened down the hatches and made for the sea on the 8.00 am bus. According to the BBC, it is 40C and humidity of only 16.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=4359

Unlike yesterday, there was quite a wind up already on Dado, and a number of tourists on the beach. As is often the case in Israel, the men's changing rooms were open, but not so with the women's. A man with a bunch of keys tried to find some that might be open, but despite appearances to the contrary, he didn't work on the beach and was merely a citizen of Haifa going for a stroll and trying to be helpful!

However, all's well that ends well, and we finally made our way back up the Carmel at 9.30, found that the washing put out at 7.20 am had dried (most unusual for humid Haifa) and ate a huge breakfast of matzah, cream cheese, fruit and (shame to say) some of the remains of my birthday cake. There's also a chocolate mousse with strawberries to finish.

I started preparing a salad for lunch and found what looked to me like a mini scorpion in the sink. Turned out to be a centipede, which the husband disposed of as humanely as possible, without killing.

Just now been had an e-mail query about Jews in Ghana, so if anyone knows anything about this community?

And look forward to a noon siesta in the almost 100 F heat.

Anglican Friends of Israel produce a booklet in honour of Israel's 6oth

Delighted to link to Anglican Friends of Israel's booklet in honour of Israel's 6oth.

http://www.anglicanfriendsofisrael.com/content/view/48/33/

The forward is by distinguished lawyer and academic, Anthony Julius:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Julius

This booklet should be read by all those who have been less than welcoming to Israel's many achievements. It is clear and historically accurate and in my view could serve as an educational aid throughout Britain and beyond.

Religion - swimming against the tide

Here are some pictures of Haifa, including some of the sea which I swam in early this morning:

http://www.pbase.com/mbnm57/haifa_beaches

An intense khamsin or sharav has been forecast for this week, once again,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/khamsin.shtml

so it was down to the beach around 8.00, seeing off one's husband on the Jerusalem bus and then just crossing the road from the bus station, down the underpath, and there you are.

Usually, there is then a 20 minute walk along the promenade to the Meridian bay, which tends to be safer for swimmers than the surfing Dado Beach. But today, with the skim of yellow on the horizen, heralding the heat-wave to come, the Israeli Mediterranean had transformed itself into Lake Geneva. Definitely the calm before the (sand) storm:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Geneva

For the first time, I swam across the bay to the promontory and wasn't surprised to find on return to the Dado that an hour had elapsed and that the once-an-hour bus back up the Carmel was due very soon.

Despite the crowds of tourists who were arriving around 9.00, belongings were safe and sound on the chair where they had been left, and I arrived back on top of the Carmel at 9.40 exactly.

The Church Times was waiting, sticking out of the letter box as usual and containing the normal mixed bag of items:

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/index.asp?id=55029

Today, there was a great deal on Darfur

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=55144

as well as an understandably shocked response to the latest government attack on faith schools:

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=55250

There was the ususal anti-Israel propaganda from Naim Ateek of Sabeel:

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=55248

Is he really the best that the Church Times can do? I've spoken to the piece's author, Bill Bowder, on the phone, and he seems to be quite a pleasant bloke. Surely there must be other Anglicans he can interview. After all, when I was invited to visit St. George's Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem last summer, I was introduced to a member of Sabeel (from America), who physically reacted when it was pointed out by the priest that I was "Jewish'. His body language said it all.

http://adamholland.blogspot.com/2007/10/more-than-50-organizations-plan-to.html

How can the Church Times, a liberal paper, take seriously the rantings of a guy who has compared Israel to those who crucified Jesus. For a Church of England paper to treat with respect this type of anti-semitic rubbish which, even when shorn of its unacceptable vocabulary, is blatantly untrue, does the Church of England no credit and should be vigorously called into question by Anglicans who know the facts about Israel.

However, Bill Bowder did have a piece on choral singing and how good it is for your health. Definitely!

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=55258

And there was also an excellent letter on the true status and fate of Christians in Israel, by Fran Waddams of Anglican Friends for Israel:

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=55180

Talking of which, AFI have just published a booklet celebrating the first 60 years of Israel's existence with a forward by leading lawyer, Anthony Julius QC. I'll link to it when it is on the AFI website.

There will also be two programmes of interest to Israel broadcast by the BBC this week and next. One is on British aliyah:

http://uk.tv.yahoo.com/listings/bbc-one/2008-04-23/23-10/

and the other is on the relationship between British Jews and Israel:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/radio/wk18/index.shtml (scroll down)

Finally, and on a very sad note, it appears that one of Britain's finest religion journalists has been sacked and his job subsumed under the rubric of social affairs. This is how it was done:

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=55164

and

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/blog_post.asp?id=55062

Yes, religion just doesn't seem to fit in in today's English society. Whether it's regarded as a ritualized kind of spirituality, or a spiritual kind of social work, neither seems quite right. And that's just looking at the Anglican model. No wonder no-one can really get under the skin of what Judaism is really all about.

The description of Judaism I like best - but then I'm biased - is that Judaism is like the sea: calm one day, but stormy the next; blue like the sky, able to get under and into your skin, cyclical, all-embracing, purifying, dangerous and yet ultimately womb-like; all things to all men; fatally attractive - there. And one thing's for sure, it will certainly survive all of us:

http://www.tiferes.org/1tbts.htm

Pesach: the ultimate in knowing your body

There is a term in modern psychology known as 'embodied' or 'somatic' knowing.

https://www.cete.org/acve/docgen.asp?tbl=tia&ID=155

and

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=embodied+knowing&meta=

The week of Pesach is a very good example of this phenomenon. Eating unleavened bread for a week certainly makes you more aware of your body, although nowadays we have a wide choice of fruit and vegetables which provide the roughage that somewhat attenuates all the changes that take place in the body when it gives up staples such as bread and other leaven.

However, we were just thinking that in ancient Israel, and more recently in Jewish centres such as Poland and Russia, there wasn't the choice of fruit and veg we have now during the Pesach season. Citrus fruit in particular.

One of the reasons why the youngest person asks around the Seder table: 'Why is this night different from all other nights'? is due to the strange concoction of foods we eat around that same table - not only to remind us of our slavery in Egypt - but to remind us of our propensity to become slaves to our bodies as well:

http://www.jewfaq.org/seder.htm

The mistake many make is to think that once we know about the reasons for a ritual, we don't really need to perform the ritual at all, but to philosophize it and just 'bear it in mind' - spiritualize it even. This approach is, however, a mistake.

For it is what we do in life that is important, however much the doing is informed by what we think. And this is the meaning of halakhah - informed thinking in action.

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/about_jewish_texts/Overview_Sacred_Texts/Halakhah_Aggadah160.htm

The Jewish holidays are a marvellous way of training children in how to take on the norms of the religion. But these are not only holidays for children. Each year as we perform the rituals, they take on new meanings and significance. For that reason alone we should feel blessed for the gift of Judaism, which encourages us by example to practise what we preach.

The terribly good luck of having your birthday on Pesach

Today was my birthday and also the first day of Pesach. Last night at the Seder, we discussed the ultimate questions. Does Judaism believe that everything that happens must be as it is, because God is omnipotent and omniscient? Or, by contrast, is it our duty to try and improve the world because that is what God wants us to do? And, most important of all, if your birthday falls on Pesach, does this mean that you are let off cleaning the floor after the Seder meal?

It's quite something celebrating your first Seder in your home in Israel, as well as your birthday.

The kids had brought a quite delicious cake from Tel Aviv, as well as a great many balloons!

It's gratifying to see a that a number of British blogs have been most complimentary about Pesach

http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2008/04/passover-and-liberal-democracy.html

although concerned at certain aspects of the festival:

http://timesonline.typepad.com/faith/2008/04/passover.html

Yes, it is true that shops in Israel are now allowed to sell hametz over Pesach, but as long as you ask for advice, it's usually quite straightforward as to where the kosher for Pesach stuff is.

And Yes, some people do become ill through the exertions, but careful planning in advance and a positive attitude can forestall this state of affairs.

I did hear of a case of Pesach tensions leading to a man divorcing his wife of 40 years and going off with the secretary instead, but that sort of thing can happen at Christmas as well. Sounds as if a sense of humour was sadly lacking in his case and that he was suffering from a dose of infantilism!

Anyway, our Seder was enhanced by the presence at the dinner table of a Classics expert from Haifa University, who kept pointing out references to Greek and Latin in the Haggadah.  One example is the Hebrew word for 'reclining', which is apparently linked to the Latin adjective, supinus, a um, which means 'lying on your back'. No wonder, after four cups of wine!

During this weekend, we have reminisced alot en famille, whilst enjoying the spring roses in our little garden, the kittens which have just been born in our hedge and the bird which flew in this morning to pick up some loose twigs with which to build its nest.

Here in Israel, it was nice to celebrate just one day of Seder, and not two, as in the diaspora and to enjoy the jaunty tunes at Synagogue, despite being the only woman there for the first half hour!

And at the end of the day, we enjoyed a family sing-song round the piano with songs from the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel, which seem to transcend the generations.

And yes, we did remember the unlit candle for the Tibetan people

http://unlitcandle.org/

as well as the cup for Elijah, who does of course come from this area:

http://judaism.about.com/library/3_askrabbi_c/bl_pesachelijah.htm

And luckily, I think someone else might be cleaning the floor tomorrow morning, thank goodness!

http://www.sichosinenglish.org/books/sichos-in-english/44/30.htm

Israel - Tales of the Unexpected

The thing about Israel is that the best-laid plans can always go awry, - especially when you least expect it....

This morning was supposed to be hair-dresser at 9.15, followed by a meeting with a midwife from Nazareth, who wants her MA thesis edited for English.

The phone went at 8.00. Hairdresser had child trouble, so could I come in at 11.00 instead?  No, because of midwife. We settled for 5.15 pm. Hope I'm back in time for the food delivery tonight from Haifa's only kosher Indian catering outlet:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1192380709791

Phone goes again. This time it's the midwife. Her computer's got a virus. Can't come. Is next week OK?

Decide to have coffee and think about it. Ring friend with request for pillows for the Seder. These friends are going away and have some to spare for the leaning bit, where we pretend to be ancient Romans lounging about indolently. I wish!

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/1751/jewish/The-Seder-in-an-Nutshell.htm

Phone goes again. Computer sorted. Midwife on her way from Nazareth.

Potter around, thinking last-minute thoughts about Pesach. Midwife arrives. Smartly dressed - immaculate even. Very professional. Had already sent me the first draft by e-mail.

We get down to it. Interesting subject. Israel seems to be behind some of the rest of the world in its attitude to midwives and birthing in general. Possibly to do with the macho culture over here????!!!

We talk about home births - which brings back lovely memories. Also happy times with the National Childbirth Trust.

http://www.nctpregnancyandbabycare.com/home

I note that although she has told me she is a Muslim, her surname is Georgian. Husband is a Russian doctor. More prejudices bite the dust. She even showed an interest in attending one of our Passover Seders.

Plus she paid me straight away, unlike some of Israel's largest organisations who dither and dally, and couldn't care less.

When she left, I phoned the British Council in Nazareth and thanked them for putting us together.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/israel-about-us-contact-us-nazareth.htm

And when she had gone, I received a phone call from Haifa University. Another editing job, this time a book on the methodology of politics - for the American market. Payment 60 days after completion. That's standard here!

Yes, it's a very unboring place is Israel  - with interesting connections all across the demographic spectrum. We discussed Islam in Britain, and she said that Israeli Muslims feel part of the country and want to contribute their best.

She must have received three or four phone calls during our meeting, to do with child-birth, which she dealt with in three different languages, all of which she spoke with a polished ease.

Which makes the reaction to this terribly sad.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/615996/an-iraqi-gets-it.thtml

Yes, Britain may be ahead in its birthing programmes and choice for women, but as far as inter-ethnic relations and integration are concerned, all their concern for the female of the species tends to go out the window. Don't want to sound too ambitious, but maybe Britain could actually learn a thing or two about integration of minorities from the Israel experience - perish the thought!

By the way, had to laugh. When I rang a friend and asked about times of the synagogue services in Haifa this weekend, I was told to turn up at the synagogue and ask during the service. Our synagogue in Manchester, by contrast, has just sent me all the times, talks, instructions for Pesach on Shabbat etc etc, with good wishes for the holiday. They also added that they were looking forward to seeing me again in the near future.

Must be a moral in that somewhere!

Meanwhile, enjoy this, sent me just now by a friend:

http://www.wejew.com/media/1784/Pesach_Seder_Plate_Song/