Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
We made it back to Israel. I was a bit uncertain we would but we are here. Right before we were to leave to the airport last week, my sister called to let me know that her mother in law, whom all my kids refer to as Grandma Sally, passed away. She was one month shy of 103. An Auschwitz survivor who got up everyday and said ' Hitler is dead and I am still here'. She was sharp as a tack until the end. I was fortunate to see her on this trip. I was able to change my ticket last minute without penalty ( thanks Delta) and attend the funeral.
It is the first time I have been to a funeral for a centenarian. It is a bit different than others. Of course people were sad but also in awe of this special woman who was with it until the end. I mentioned to my sister that it seems that she obviously didn't want to let go. She said that Sally was ready. She knew she had an extraordinary life but it was time.
I was a bit taken aback by this but if you knew Sally , it made sense. The saddest part for me was that we have lost another witness to the horror our people suffered. Sally spent a good part of her life dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust and made sure that people would not forget. She was a special woman who was an inspiration to many people.
So, I got back home a day late and was unable to vote. No matter, I would have voted the same as last time ( and the time before) and as we now all know, the results were mostly the same. The two big changes were the increase in the representation of the Arab parties and the total decimation of the Israeli left.
Once again Lieberman holds the keys. I thought that this time he might make a deal with Netanyahu if the haredim gave up something but Bibi went a different way and totally pissed Lieberman off.
oh well, that's politics.
There is talk that the parties on the left ( which is not an accurate description as the real left is gone ) together with Lieberman and the Arabs will pass a law that someone who is indicted can not form a government.
Good luck with that.
What does this mean going forward?
Fourth election of course.
Lastly, this post would not be complete without mentioning Dosequisvirus. I will start by saying I think the whole world is overreacting.
Do you remember when Ebola caused all our skin to fall off?
SARS?
MERS?
A lot of the hysteria centers on the 3% death rate of those infected. Those reliable numbers came from China so they must be true.
The problem is since the Chinese government didn't recognize that there was a problem to begin with , they did not count anyone who might have had it before becoming woke. (not a typo, look it up )
When looking at the numbers from South Korea, who has been counting correctly from the beginning , it is closer to 0.68%. That is not insignificant but doesn't require shutting the world either.
I only mention this whole thing as Israel has one of the strictest containment policies in the world. Most foreign airlines have stopped flying here as we will not admit any of their citizens. The USA is not on that list, yet. It most likely will be before the end of the week.
So I am in the clear, right?
Not.
Last week the Ministry of Health issued guidelines on what people should be doing . One of them said that anyone who has traveled ANYWHERE should not go to a place with more than 100 people. I thought this was overkill but I decided to respect it and did not go to my shul this shabbat. I went to another in the neighborhood that has around 60-70 people attending.
Yet there are some people who felt this is not stringent enough and like everything else in this country they need to outdo everyone else. Also typical of this country is that people expect you to do the more instead of perhaps taking it upon themselves
Case in point
I went to services this morning. I knew that there would be nowhere near 30 people let alone 100.
There is an older ( rumor is 85) gentleman who sits in front of me. I told him that if he felt uncomfortable with me there I would be very happy to move my seat. He was fine
A few minutes later another gentleman announces in front of the whole Shul that he thinks I should leave. I was overseas and there are people in high risk groups present. I said that if those people felt that what the Ministry of Health was doing was insufficient, that perhaps they should be the ones who leave.
I did not wait for his answer and just left. In the back of my mind I have to wonder what would I say if I did infect one of my friends ( however unlikely)
I left the room to finish praying in the lobby. While in the midst, this fellow comes out ( not sure why he left) but says loudly to another person that the committee that runs the shul needs to do something since clearly people don't care about the well being of others.
That really pissed me off but I didn't say anything ( truth was I couldn't as I was in the middle of prayers).
He was scared. I get it. I have been watching for many years people getting caught up in a frenzy and losing their minds. It's the norm in the world today.
I probably should have just left without saying anything. The second he opened his mouth I knew I would leave. It didn't do anyone any good for me to comment, which might have been a bit more and louder than previously mentioned.
I have received a few messages from people telling me how angry they were for me and how they felt the other guy was out of line. That was very appreciated.
Looking back, I should not have gone. I had a feeling it would be an issue with someone and it was.
I hope as I get older I can get a bit smarter and learn my lesson when it comes to these things. To walk away from a fight is not in my nature but I guess that is the whole point. We have our nature and then there is doing what is right. Sometimes it is the same but more often than not ( for me) it isn't.
I recently read this quote which I think is worth repeating. If you do not change direction you may end up where you are going
What I do know is that it is never too late change and who knows, I might have a chance on living to 103 if I learn how to.