Imagine~This is Our Reality

Think About It~And Do Listen Carefully to The Facts...

UPDATE: Our Weak Foreign Ministry Pulled This

Apparently Foreign Press Were Upset~The Truth Hurts...Trying to Find Another Link

Defeat Islamic Terror: Understand the Arab~Muslim Mind

Dr. Mordechai Kedar Explains We First Need to "Understand" the Mindset~Do Listen!

Gad Elbaz~Keep The Faith (A Beautiful Song!)

Gad Elbaz Sings With Deep Feeling~Truly One of Our Best Singers...

לשמור על התקווה

Lyrics (Hebrew)

זה עוד לילה מייגע של צללים ובהלות
ומישהו השתגע, הקפיא את השעות
אני זוכר ימים טובים זורמים אליי כמו מים
ועכשיו, מרוב תפילות כבר לא רואים שמיים
החיים שלנו פה הם כמו גלגל ענק
בין אש ואדמה, בין בית ומרחק
ואיך זה שהיום נפלנו על בירכיים
פתאום מרוב דמעות כבר לא רואים עיניים
(פזמון)
מה עוד נשאר לנו מלבד האמונה
מה עוד נשאר בין כל מה שהשתנה
יום רודף עוד יום, שנה אחר שנה
מה עוד נשאר לנו מלבד . . .
מה עוד נשאר לנו מלבד האהבה
מה עוד נשאר , רק לשמור על התקווה
יום רודף עוד יום, שנה אחר שנה
מה עוד נשאר לנו מלבד האמונה
ויש מי ששומר למעלה, מעליי
מוחה דמעה של אמא, שחיכתה יותר מדי
האור עוד יתגלה מבין סדקי הלילה
הבוקר החדש שוב יעלה, נמשיך ללכת הלאה

Lyrics (Very Rough Translation)

It's another long night of shadows and frights

And someone has gone mad, frozen in time

I remember good times flowing like water to me

And now, with prayers I no longer see the sky

Our life here is like a Ferris wheel

Between fire and earth, between home and away

And how is it that today we fell on our hips

Suddenly, with tears in eyes no longer see

(Chorus)

What else is left for us except faith

What else is there among all changed

Day After another day, year after year

What else is there besides us...

What else is left for us except love

What else is there, just keep Hope

Day After another day, year after year

What else is left for us except faith

 And if you keep up, over me

Wiping away a tear of Mother, who waited too

More light will be revealed cracks in the night

The new morning will again, we will go on

Gad Elbaz~Part Of Me (Great Israeli Singer!)

Part of Me by Gad Elbaz (גד אלבז~חלק ממני) (Lyrics in Hebrew and English Below)

Lyrics (Hebrew)
חלק ממני תמיד יישאר של הרוח, וידע להלך בן הרע והטוב,
בעולם של פלדה של קוצים ושל כוח, חלק ממני תמיד יזכור לאהוב,
חלק בי יבכה בלי להבין, חלק בי ימשיך להאמין.

גם אם לא רואים כבר את האור, והחושך נוגע.
חלק בי תמיד ימשיך לזכור, ויהיה שם.
חלק בי ישכח.. חלק בי יאהב.. חלק ממני תמיד יישאר של המים, ויגע בשמים יותר מתמיד,
כשפתאום ישכחו להסתכל בעיניים, חלק ממני תמיד יזכור להביט.

גם אם לא רואים כבר את האור, והחושך נוגע.
חלק בי תמיד ימשיך לזכור, ויהיה שם.
חלק בי ישכח.. חלק בי יאהב..

Lyrics (A Poor Translation~Corrections Would be Welcomed!)

Part of me will always remain in the spirit, and knowledge to walk between evil and good,
  In a world steel and thorns, part of me will always remember love,
Part of me weep without understanding, part of me will continue to believe.

Even if you do not already see the light and dark touches.
Part of me will always remember, and be there.
Some forget me...love me...
 Some part of me will always remain of the water and touch the sky, more than ever,
When suddenly I forget to look in the eyes, a part of me will always remember to look.

Even if you do not already see the light and dark concerns.
Part of me will always remember, and be there.
Some part of me would forget me...love me...

Israel~This is My Country!

It has been just over a month since we Israelis celebrated Yom Ha'atzmaut, the birth of our country sixty-seven years ago. Every year there are speeches coming from anyone and everyone who can get their hands on a microphone. Good or bad, someone always has something to say~which is generally forgotten after the event. Sometimes, however, there are articles that are worth reviewing regardless of the time of  year.

When Israel "turned 60" many wrote stories and articles for the magazines and papers both on and off line. In my opinion, one of the best was from Ephraim Kishon (23 August 1924 ~ 29 January 2005) who wrote a weekly column in Maariv, a mainstream, Hebrew-language newspaper. Mr. Kishon, was a talented and interesting man. His life story is worth reading. I believe that, in this article, he has truly described "Israel and Israelis" in a nutshell...Enjoy!

This is Israel!

This is the only country where the unemployed strike;

This is the only country where sixty year olds still hate their tironut commander;

This is the only country where the corporals' mother has the commander's telephone number;

This is the only country that has a communications satellite, but nobody lets you finish a sentence;

This is the only country hit by missiles from Iraq, Katushas from Lebanon, suicide bombers from Gaza and rockets from Syria~and still a three-room apartment costs more than in Paris;

This is the only country where an Israeli meal is made from an Arab salad, Romanian kebabs, Iraqi pita bread and Bavarian mousse. We must like eating ant-Semitics!

This is the only country where the guy with the open and stained shirt is the honourable minister and the guy beside him wearing the suit and tie is his driver;

This is the only country where the phrase "I don't interfere" means that I want to interfere;

This is the only country where Muslims sell sacred souvenirs to Christians in exchange for bills that have the Rambam's face on them;

This is the only country where, at the age of eighteen you leave home but at twenty-four you still live with your parents;

This is the only country where people who come to your home for the first time ask you if  it's OK to go and take something from the fridge;

This is the only country where you can tell what the security situation is from the songs that are being played on the radio;

This is the only country where the rich are on the socialist left, the poor on the capitalist right and the middle-class pays for everything;

This is the only country where there is no problem to get the software that launches a space shuttle, but you have to wait a week for your washing machine to be fixed;

...And only here is there a time unit called "sometime between 11 and 6"!

This is the only country where between the happiest day and the saddest day there are exactly sixty seconds;

This is the only country where most people can't explain why they live here but they have loads of reasons why they can't live elsewhere;

This is the only country where if you hate politicians, hate clerks, hate the situation, hate the taxes, hate the quality of service, and hate the weather, it must mean that you like the country...

This Is The Only Country I Could Live In!!!  It's My Country~Israel!!!

When Life Seems Beyond Our Control...

For the last few months I have not been posting very often. So many things have been happening (other than the normal insanity), all of which have made posting very difficult.

To begin with I had cataract surgery on both eyes. While there were no irreversible complications, the results were disappointing and my vision was becoming blurred. Needless to say, writing was the last thing on my mind. I underwent a second surgery and I must state that I would never go through that again. The pain was incredible!

Weeks later, while shopping, I was pushed from behind with such force, that I felt like I was flying through the ai!. I landed on a bollard~on the right side of my chest. I think I blanked out for a few seconds and when I opened my eyes I was dizzy and disoriented. My first thought was that "something had exploded", but looking down all seemed in order. Someone helped me up and I made my way home. 

 

Several days later, when movement was nigh impossible I went to a doctor. After viewing the x-rays, he couldn't believe I had gone to work and ordered me home to bed and medication for seven days, but to my dismay staying in bed was easier said than done. The extremely strong medication  did little more than make me drowsy for short periods. After a week there were more x-rays which showed that the extensive damage to the inside of my chest cavity was what made breathing very difficult, and movement excruciating.All heals in time, but I admit that for the first time in my life I have become very aware of falling.

The other day, just when I was thinking that all was going well, and I was busy scrubbing the floor and thought I saw a flashing light from the side of my left eye, followed by what I thought a hair~but there was nothing there. Only a few minutes later, I began seeing dark black, vertical cracks appear i the left side of my eye...it was very strange, like space was breaking open. There was no real pain, just a feeling that my eyeball was being pushed out of my head. I went to the specialist next morning and in a nutshell, there is a vitreous gel in front of the retina, and in some cases (after cataract surgery) it pulls away, creating traction on the retina. In my case the retina has not yet detached, but I'm restricted in activity for now and my vision is cloudy. I also have a large number of "floaters" that were not there previously.

All in all, it is no great disaster~just a number of niggly little things that become irritating, making daily tasks slow and cumbersome.

In truth, these past weeks have given me time for reflection. While my life is relatively normal, and I have no serious complaints, I have realized a strong desire to make a change. This is not so easy when one is not so young, but none the less, I think it is time. The big question is:   What do I change to?

I still need to support myself and jobs are scarce. How can I find funds to "re-train" and look for new employment in a market where the young are coming out of college with no jobs~and at my age? So many questions but so far no answers...