Starting off with accentuating the positive. I’ve lived in Israel for a decade now. Hard to believe how fast it’s gone by. There are LOTS of things we can criticize and find fault with, but today I’d like to start off by accentuating the positive. Things I’ve come to love or find really amusing.

I love flying on ElAl with a bunch of Israelis. Seriously. Besides good food (they feed you like a Jewish momma and you’ll never leave the flight hungry), at the end of the flight, just as the plane touches down, everyone breaks into thunderous applause. It’s a tradition and a way of saying thank you to the pilot and crew. Also a way of being thankful for a safe trip. It’s amazing!!!

Now, the pre-flight fun – or any time Israelis are asked to queue up. They have absolutely no concept of how to form a line. Our last flight we passed the counters and check ins for Singapore, Netherlands, American, Italy…. All super straight, super organized, well-formed lines. Israel?

And don’t get us started about the lines at the grocery store or the inability to have personal space when you use the Cespomat (ATM). It’s totally hysterical.

I love eating seasonally. In America, we always had everything produce wise all season long. I could find peaches in November and grapes in January. Brussels sprouts and gourds could be bought all year long. Oooo, I have a hankering for blueberries. No problem. Here, I’ve come to savor strawberry season from Chanukah to Passover. And then the stone fruits. After what seemed like forever, they finally come out early summer….peaches, nectarines, cherries. Then,they are gone until next summer. In the winter, I look forward to the delicious Jaffa oranges, and the CaraCara and blood oranges, which are available for about a month. Limes can be found late, late summer. So I buy 40 to freeze for use throughout the year. But in general, I’ve learned to miss the transience of some things, while I anticipate the coming of others.

I love that, for the most part, we are all one big family here. Sure, we disagree about everything, but when someone is in need, there is always a stranger or five who step in to help. Great examples of this happened just this week. For the first… on Sunday morning there was a red alert signal throughout central Israel. When the siren goes off, you pull over and take cover the best you can. A young father jumped out of the car, unstrapped his 5 week old baby and rushed to the side of the road seeking shelter beside a wall. A stranger crouched in front of him, wrapping his arms around both the father and child, shielding them with his own body from any falling shrapnel. We look out for each other.

Yesterday, a friend down in the center of Israel called. Her husband had just been called back to reserve duty in Gaza. He left Or behind with a three year old and a 4 month old. Tomer, the husband, is the kind of guy who fills his wife’s gas tank, brings her coffee every morning, takes care of much business so she can care for her children and run her own small business (Or has an Etsy shop). Or’s neighbor knew how overwhelmed she was with a teething baby and absent husband, so she made her a week’s worth of hot meals. Just because. We take care of each other.

I really find it amusing at how superstitious many Israelis are. G-d forbid you should say anything negative about yourself or your family – you wouldn’t want to tempt trouble. My husband often expresses in public how stupid he is (joking), and it flips these people out. You never say anything bad about yourself. And if there’s talk of impending danger be it health or wealth or other, then khas v’halillah, don’t tempt the evil eye, tfu, tfu, tfu. So I cracked up last week when John spit through his fingers and said tfu, tfu, tfu. He’s really becoming one of them.

I love how connected most Israelis are to nature. Planting trees, Going for hikes. Concerned about sustainability in a good way. How every Jewish neighborhood is mandated to have a park within walking distance.

And how family oriented people are. It is not at all uncommon for couples to marry early and have a large family of 4 or more children. There are little kids running everywhere. It’s really healthy to see. Or how the families come together every weekend for Friday night dinners. And just Fridays in general when the busyness of the week slows down. The DJs on the radio play much more relaxed and mellow music and the noise of the city dissolves away. To wake up every Saturday morning to birds chirping. No leaf blowers. No garbage trucks. No motorcycles or blaring music. Just quiet. I love it. “And what did you do all Shabbat?” “I just rested. Betten gahv.” I love this idiom!!!! It translates ‘stomach back,’ but just means to be a slug. Flip over from one side to the other. Just resting from stomach to back. I did nothing. Betten gahv.

I love making an appointment at the clinic and being seen by a doctor in less than 15 minutes. No waiting in a treatment room for hours. The doctor is right there. You go into the room and sit down and your appointment starts. When I go to my regular doctor in California, I make my appointment months ahead of time, sit in the waiting room for a good hour, and then the treatment room for at least another hour. It’s maddening. It would never be stood for here.

Last week, we discovered a small family of mice who had taken up residence in our larder (downstairs pantry). John went to the hardware store to buy some mousetraps, only to find out that they don’t sell the kind that kill or harm the animals here in Israel. The country is so darned humane and has such a respect for life that the only traps available are catch and release cages. So….John set the bait in the cages and within four days had caught all the mice and released them into far away olive groves. So much for a country bent on ‘genocide-‘

When I lived in the United States I had never heard of Eurovision. It’s a very big deal in Europe and Eurasia. An international pop music contest that has taken place for almost 60 years, it has launched careers of Abba and Celine Dion. Israel has been a participant since its inception.

I got in on the craze for the first time last year with the song “Hurricane” (fantastic) sung by Eden Golan. It was a highly contested entry because the original song, “October Rain” was deemed too controversial. The organizers had complaints that the original song was too political, so it was slightly modified. Eden Golan participated in the contest under heavy protection. She had received numerous death threats and had to be escorted by bodyguards wherever she went. Her song was booed when done live, but the performance (song, voice, set, dancers) was so wonderful, she got fourth place (out of 36 entries). It was the number one song in Israel all last year.

https://youtu.be/lJYn09tuPw4?si=CpOmftp-aE2AKKO5

This year, the story gets even better. Yuval Raphael attended the Nova Music Festival with her friends that fated October morning in 2023. When the shelling started and the Hamas terrorists invaded the Israeli border communities, Yuval took shelter in one of the concrete bunkers on the side of the road. Normal capacity is about 20 people, but over 50 young concert goers crowded into the bomb shelter. Yuval was texting her parents through the whole ordeal.

The terrorists came around and started sending volleys of bullets from their machine guns right into the shelters, killing and wounding several kids. One Gazan threw a grenade into the shelter. It was tossed back by a young IDF soldier inside. Then another. He threw the grenade out. Seven times. Over and over. The brave soldier kept catching and throwing the grenade outside where it exploded. Then on the eight time, the grenade exploders inside the shelter killing scores. Yuval and her friend were at the back. Dead bodies piled on top of them.

Her father told her “Play dead. Don’t move. Don’t make a noise.” Hamas kept coming back, shooting into the shelter. It was a living nightmare that lasted for over 8 hours. Finally her father, defying all roadblocks and odds came to rescue her. She survived the Nova massacre, albeit wounded. Now she’s facing hate at Eurovision. Over 70 past Eurovision stars as well as present entries are calling for Miss Raphael to be banned because of her ethnicity/nationality. (Her family has Kurdish, Iraqi, Persian and French roots).

Yuval never sang professionally, but decided to enter into Israel’s version of The Voice, The Next Star, last January. It was part of her healing process. Her performance was so shattering, that she not only won that competition, but was immediately chosen to be Israel’s representative for Eurovision. “I’m coming to Eurovision to sing for all the angels who can’t be here. I survived, I have to make the most out of my life to honor them.” Have we talked of Israeli resilience before???? This is Yuval giving her story and her song on The Next Star. It’s a MUST WATCH AND SHARE! Get your tissues out. Seriously. You’ll cry- (close caption translations…)

https://youtu.be/OUeejYiU8LA?si=K8LJMyVN7NBSBZXj

Is she not poised, beautiful, amazing, brave?? You can see more, full interviews with her testimony on YouTube. Fluent in Hebrew, English and French (her family lived in Switzerland and now she returns to Switzerland for the competition). Such a talent! Such a person to represent our country. This is the music video that was made for her entry into Eurovision.

https://youtu.be/Q3BELu4z6-U?si=8ElYEXRj0S-H4xIw

The semifinal round is coming up this weekend. Yuval has already had to face threats and is heavily guarded. Wherever she is escorted in Switzerland, this 24 year old has had to face massive anti-Israel/pro-Gaza protests and demonstrations. With the backlash against Israel in the world, it’s pretty much a surety that she will not win. Still- we shall see how it shakes out.

You can follow (and vote for your favorite contestant) the Eurovision contest live. It’s being live-streamed across the internet. Most of the groups and performers are pretty sleezy to say the least. It’s known for its wackiness for the most part. I shall report back on how Yuval Raphael placed.