Happy Commercial New Year (12/31/02)

Dear Friends,

NO LONGER TOURISTS

We are no longer tourists in Jerusalem. Life has taken on its obligations. Ursula's classes and the time between classes when she needs help in preparing her lessons take a lot of time. The large number of people we meet socially seems to have no end. It is mid-December and there are still people I have not even called, and we keep meeting new people. The number of circumcisions, weddings, etc. is growing; we just can't get to them all. Household help and shopping take time, as does answering emails (about 60 per day). We try to go to theater, concerts, or movies. Keeping up with the news, even through the Internet, drains one's energy because one never knows what the next hour will bring. Setting up our winter travel schedule and then going away and coming back requires an expenditure of energy. Morning prayers at the Wall, too, are part of the obligations of life, when I'm not too exhausted to go. Keeping in touch with the family is very time consuming. My own work on Zohar and Maimonides is, therefore, rather sporadic, being sandwiched in between everything else. And the good weather is gone: it is rainy much of the time and the owner of this building only heats it from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m., which leaves me cold most of the time (Ursula doesn't mind it at all).

We finally found a wounded soldier to visit. It took a long time but I ran across the Organization for Handicapped Israeli Soldiers and they provided an address. Rony was wounded when he grabbed a suicide bomber and held on to him, preventing him from boarding a bus and exploding himself there. His legs were badly damaged. He has pins in them to hold them steady as the bone grows back and that creates headaches. It also means he is in a wheelchair, and that means that they had to give up the apartment they had just bought because it has no elevator. We visited him in his new apartment in Har Homa, a stunning development south of Jerusalem off the Hebron road. It is in the middle of a group of Arab villages and, while there is plenty of room and new roads for all, the Arabs resent their presence. So there is indoor parking and defensive fences all around the streets which block the otherwise spectacular view of the Judean desert, all the way across to Jordan. Rony has a young wife and three children. Very sweet, with big eyes, but it is hard to be a father to young boys if you are in a wheelchair and have to have someone come and take you out of it, bathe you, etc. The government provides him with a helper and has now provided him with a special car that can be driven without feet. His mood seemed good and we will visit them again.

On one of my outings I went to the University of Haifa to speak. I chose to drive there via the spine of Mt. Carmel. There is a wonderful ascent through steep, almost barren valleys. On one of the plateaus I stopped to see a very early sacrficial altar in stone. One could see where the animals were held and where the blood flowed. Haifa University is at the very top of Mount Carmel and the approach from the ridge is spectacular. One can see all the way to Lebanon on one side and down to Netanya on the other, plus the whole bay of Haifa to Acre. The same view can be had from the University itself. I guess the students and faculty get used to it but I was just swept away with the vistas at every turn. I lectured in the Eshkol Tower on the 29 ^th of 30 floors; unbelievable. The lecture was well attended by faculty from all over Haifa and the discussion was quite lively. The University also contains a splendid museum with very fine archaeological objects. I spent the evening with Ruth Linn, whom I know professionally, and her family. Her husband is the grandson of the legendary Aba Hushi, the first mayor of Haifa. So I heard stories about Haifa and Israeli politics from the early years of the State. Benny Hary's brother lives in Haifa and he came over with his wife. It turns out that Eli and Ruthi went to the same school. It was interesting to hear them compare notes about life in Haifa, about politics, and about the troubles they have with their children. Ruthi's husband, Shai, asked me a question which, as an American, I had never thought about: "What would history have been like if Lincoln had just let the South secede, especially in view of the human cost?" It says a lot about history teaching that nowhere in my expensive and fine education did anyone pose that question.

The following morning I drove to the Israeli Arab village of Kfar Yasif where a student with whom I attended Hebrew University in 1958-59 lives. I had visited him there when we were students and was glad to go again. The village is now a small city and he is the retired master teacher of world history in the city. He has hundreds of pupils studying for advanced degrees all around the the world. He attributes this to the tradition of learning that characterizes Christian Arab society. As an old hand in the field of education he told a joke that those of you in education will appreciate: The inspector comes to the school and the teacher says to the class, "The inspector is coming and everyone must participate. Those who know the answer should raise their right hands, and those that don't should raise their left hands."

Our personal news consists of Ursula's continued joy at her Hebrew classes. Her associations continue to stun everyone: The word "okhel" (eats) is written with the letter "khaf" and not the letter "het" because the former, written like a backward "c", has its mouth open. The word "holekhet" (go) is also written that way because one has to keep one's eyes open when one walks. Jonathan and Rachel are in the process of buying an apartment. This has meant a lot of looking, thinking, talking, and negotiating -- all a good entry into the real world of property. They are very excited because, for five years of marriage, they have been renting. Philippe has been doing a lot of traveling and, indeed we too have been in New York for Thanksgiving and in Paris to visit Benjamin and Alexia -- all in the past five weeks. The newlyweds are living on a peniche: a boat in the Seine river in Paris. It really does look out on the Eifel Tower and it really does rock when river traffic goes by. Never a dull moment with Benjamin. They have made a real home of it, one that radiates their personal warmth and love. They were very sweet with us, especially with me for my birthday, and with each other.

THE POLITICAL SCENE

Things have been relatively quiet though every single day terrorists on their way to suicide missions are stopped and arrested by the Israelis. It is just luck, or perseverance, that has prevented tragedy. On Friday 11/15, on their way to services, Jews were slaughtered by Palestinians in Hebron -- another massacre -- and local television showed pictures of Palestinians rejoicing and dancing over the slaughter. I think I even heard church bells the morning after, though that happens only on Sunday. All this goes on even as the Europeans and Americans denounce the terror with words but insist on negotiating with the Palestinians. The more subtle among them say that these elements can't be controlled and the least subtle say that it is all the fault of the Jews anyway. It has made us both physically and morally sick. Unfortunately, the Jews are the barometer of history and this kind of urban warfare by Islamic extremists intent on bringing down western civilization will reach out and hurt those who do not act to defeat it. Now is not the time for words or stalling, but no one in the west wants to know this. Of course, there is no sustained and honest critique of this militarized terror from the Palestinians or the Arab world. The only bright light in this is that, as we were sitting on a bench in the plaza of the Sherover Theater, a woman came up to us (thinking us to be Israelis) and expressed her solidarity. She was part of a group of 60 Dutch Christians who came for no other reason than to express solidarity with the Jews of Israel. They were touring and brought 120,000 orange tulip bulbs for planting. "We love you very much" brought tears to our eyes, especially in contrast to the cruelty and celebration among Palestinians at the murder of Jews on their way to pray, and in the face of the towering lack of action on the part of the so-called civilized west. If you want to know what the Arab world thinks, don't listen to Arafat; listen to Rantisi, the political head of Hamas. He says terrible things but at least he speaks the truth of what Arabs feel and would do, if they could.

On the subject of war, I am relatively optimistic. Saddam Hussein is a survivalist and I think he will agree to asylum in an Arab country with the hope of returning some day rather than go to a war which Iraq cannot survive. He won't do this until the last minute and he still has the backing of France and Russia. But, when he loses that, he will run, not fight. So it seems to me. Sharing this with a colleague, I was told that intelligence sources show that he has already deposited $3 billion (yes, that's right) in Libya to cover his retreat there, some of it to go to the Libyans of course. President Bush could not resist that solution, if it is tied to real supervised destruction of unconventional weapons. So, those of you who are praying for peace, pray that Saddam has the common sense to run for his three billion dollar life. It will save us all a lot of pain though leave a lot of injustice in this imperfect world.

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY HERE

Family really means something here. It is not unusual at all for someone to have all the children and grandchildren living in the same city or at least within an hour's drive. At least one family we know has a compound with houses for various generations all on one property. If everyone is not in the same city, one drives to see the others.

Families come together for Shabbat regularly, or the children and grandchildren drop by to receive a blessing on Friday afternoon or to share a Shabbat meal with parents or grandparents. Families here also celebrate family events together: a circumcision, a wedding, an important anniversary. Menachem Elon, former Deputy President of the Israeli Supreme Court put it clearly, "I spend a lot of time going to family celebrations." Hospitalization and illness also bring out the family; the sick people I have visited have been surrounded by children and grandchildren. It is not unusual for grandchildren to stay a weekend with parents or grandparents. Nor is it unusual for adult children to arrange a rotation so that elderly parents are taken care of.

At religious services, sefardi fathers take the children and grandchildren under their prayershawls during the recitation of the priestly benediction which, in Jerusalem, is every day. (In Rome, the women bless their female family members too.) One man I know brings his two sons every day to dawn prayers at the Wall; the boys get him his chair and his prayer stand. And every Friday night at dinner, children are blessed by parents, even adult children.

Institutions too are family oriented. Hospitals encourage families. Susan Kahn, in her book on fertility clinics in Israel, points out that fertility doctors and nurses are very "familiar" with their clients and often go to baby namings and circumcisions. They also put up pictures of children they have helped bring into the world. Every woman, married or not, is entitled to two or three fertility treatments under national health coverage, a prohibitively costly procedure if one had to pay for it personally. Even the older women in the Library think of me as a son who needs to be helped, not as a full professor who does, after all, have some training in university libraries. There are special supermarkets where, with proof of a large family, you can buy food, clothes, etc. at cost. Even the business world seems to keep businesses afloat long after they should have been allowed to dissolve, maybe because it seems that one should help the poorer members of the family.

As an American with children scattered all over the world and in a climate that is not so familial, all this seems unexpected though strangely wonderful. Perhaps it is the old ghetto mentality: stick together. Perhaps it is the political climate. Any kind of attack sets all the cellphones ringing and it is not unusual for young children to have cellphones that connect directly to parents for use in such emergencies. I must admit that, when I hear an ambulance go by, I feel concerned in a way that I do not feel in Atlanta. I also feel more inclined to help motorists, etc. than I do in the States. Faces look vaguely familiar. There are plenty of divisive tensions in Israeli society but family seems to be a real value, not one reserved for religious sects or political platforms. I need to ponder this some more.

Israel is such a Jewish and Islamic place that Christmas has largely passed us by. We have heard no Christmas carols, seen no Santa Clauses, been bombarded with no advertising to buy presents that no one needs, and generally been saved from the mercantile sugar of the season. However, for some of you this is a sacred time. May you have a meaningful and joyous season, full of inspiraton and hope. Remember us in your prayers for peace on earth and goodwill toward all humans; we shall remember you. For those for whom this is just another set of workdays, it is still useful to reflect on how we humans think of one another. A moment of reflection and a prayer for peace never hurts.

Love from Jerusalem, U&D