TV Shows and a Fat Pig

In London again last week. Got in Monday with the most dreary weather imaginable; we didn't see the ground until we were practically on the runway. Most unpleasant.

Zapping through the TV channels here (jet lag or just from boredom) I am always suprised by the fact that almost every day one can watch a game show centered around general knowledge questions. And not only during the day but also during evening prime time. How come the UK has so many of these shows? I am not certain (as I am not connected to TV at home), but I'm pretty sure there are no such shows in Israel. I don't hear about them on the news. All I read about are reality shows and song/dance contest shows. The last one I remember being on TV was "Who wants to be a millionaire", but I don't think it's been on for a while now.

What does that say about Israelis? Is the generations-long Jewish quest for knowledge, a result of the priority placed by parents on education, coming to an end in the Holy Land of all places? I don't know, but I would definitely prefer to hear that TV audiences in Israel are watching "The Weakest Link" rather than vegetating in front of "Big Brother".

I also managed to catch a play this time: "Fat Pig" at the Comedy Theatre. It's a small story about a guy (Nick Burns) who starts to go out with a fat girl (Katie Kerr) but doesn't manage to come to terms with his friends' criticism of his new love. Kerr and Burns do a great job, but the ex-girlfriend (played by Kelly Brook) is seriously annoying and seemed to "over play" her part. Cute play, but nothing much to write home about. It's worth watching for Kevin Bishop, who does a great job as the rude and "in your face" friend.

Obama It Is

Well, Obama it is. Hard to say what this means for the US and for the world. As The Guardian put it this morning: "it is hard to know whether to week or to shout for joy". Most of the local commentary, driven by US-born Israelis, is that this is a historic mistake, the magnitude of which will be clear soon enough. Others are more cautious and ask to give Obama a chance.

If I were to try and take a high-level view of recent events (a risk, given the lack of proper historical perspective), I would frame everything in the context of the power shift from the US to the East, particulary to China. The US is steadily losing its hegemony as the world leader, a position it has held for almost a century, most recently as the sole world leader. The US is not going away any time soon; empires usually do not crash in a single bang, they fade out over a long period of time. But the trend is clear. This fading out has always carried with it tumultous events in world history, as the world seeks a new balance. The war against terrorism, the economic turmoil, the general sense of hopeleseness, the apathy of Europeans - everything can be attributed to this shift. The thirst for change in America, manifested in this Presidential election is yet another symptom of this global readjustment. The US is struggling to come to terms with the fact that it has peaked and it's mostly downhill from here.

We live in a world best described by the old Chinese curse as "interesting times".

Obama or McCain?

So the race is finally over, and tomorrow is the big day. Obama or McCain?

Truth is, I haven't been following the US Presidential election much (the disillusionment with Israeli politics is clearly spilling over) so I can't say I have a firm opinion either way. My guts tell me McCain will be better for Israel, but frankly I'm not too sure my guts are right this time. Who knows?

Chabad of Tokyo

Three years after leaving Tokyo, the whole family is back in Japan for a short visit this week. There are obviously many experiences and memories to write about, but I wanted to write a few words about a dear family and an invaluable organisation - Chabad of Tokyo.

During the 4.5 years we were living in Tokyo, Chabad was for us - as it is for many Jews around the world - the main focus of Jewish life here. The Sudakevitch family have become our friends. They arrived in Tokyo a year or so before we did, so they've been here for almost 9 years now. Recently the Chabad House moved to a new building, which is going to be renovated in the near future and become the centre of Jewish life in the Japanese capital.

We just spent shabbat and chag with the Sudakevitch family (we are staying in a hotel nearby). It was lovely to see them again and to have meals in their sukkah. We had "hakafot" last night with a group of tourists from Israel that really livened the place up; I'm sure the Japanese neighbours were asking themselves what the loud singing and raucous dancing was all about. Rabbi Mendi told me that on Yom Kippur they had about 200 people for the end of the day, with only about 60 chairs available. This is surely a great sign for the new Chabad house in Tokyo.

So if you're visiting Tokyo, be sure to pay Chabad a visit!

Singapore and Israel

I'm sat at Singapore Changi airport, waiting for a red eye to Tokyo, after having spent 3 days in this wonderful city-state. I've been to Singapore several times in the past, and it's a great place: "Asia for beginners".

Every time I'm here I'm struck by the fact of how much Israel would benefit by adopting some of the practices of the Singaporeans. I agree that, strictly speaking, Singapore is not a "true" democracy; in fact, it has been described as an "illiberal democracy" or even a "benign dictatorship". But my argument is that this is exactly the type of democracy Israel needs.

Here are some examples of Singaporean practices that I think would do wonders if applied in the Holy Land:

• Freedom of speech is moderated, to protect minorities and to prevent "disharmony". Oh, if someone would only put a leash on the Israeli media!
• You kill someone (first-degree murder), you die. You traffic in drugs, you die. Simple and effective.
• OK, so perhaps capital punishment is a little harsh, so how about this: you don't flush the toilet, you chew gum in public, you litter, you jay-walk, you trade in pornography - you are a criminal.

I think the idea is clear. Compare Singapore to other "Chinese" countries in Asia and note the difference in wealth, law and order, cleanliness, manners, etc. Certain populations need taming, for want of a better term. Israelis could do with a little taming themselves. Things would look much better if heavy fines were imposed every time someone threw litter from his car or cut in line at "kupat cholim". I say: hit the Israeli where it hurts most: his pocket!

It's a well-known secret that Israel helped Singapore build its military. It's time Israel also learns a thing or two from Singapore.

Prozac and Home-Equity Loans

The financial crisis gripping the world right now started with the bursting of the sub-prime mortgage bubble in the US last year (explanation here). Naturally, the financial industry players - banks, brokers, insurers, etc. - took most of the rap for creating this crisis, and rightfully so.

But what about the people who actually borrowed the money? Aren't they at least partly to blame for taking these risky loans?

Adam Hanft has an interesting theory: Americans have been medicated with anti-depressant drugs to a level that caused them to accept irrational levels of risk. Not sure about that $500,000 loan for the new house you want so much? No worries, just pop a Prozac into your mouth and suddenly the loan doesn't look so risky. Drug-induced confidence might indeed be partly responsible for the irrational behaviour of many of these home-equity borrowers.

Now, isn't that a depressing thought?

Melachim Gimmel, by Yochi Brandes

Yochi Brandes grew up in an ultra-orthodox charedi religious family. Now she does not follow halacha but is "religious in her own way", whatever that means. And, faithful to the turnaround, she wrote a book that will probably make many religious people angry. Not me; the story isn't gripping enough to make me angry...

The presumptuously named Melachim Gimmel ("King III", i.e. a continuation of the books of Kings, no less) is not Brandes' first book, but it is her first "Biblical novel". This relatively new and recently blossoming genre, concerns books based on Biblical figures that go to extreme lengths to disfigure the Biblical narrative and present a "new way of looking at things". The authors will obviously studiously tell their readers that the new narrative is all based on apocryphal literature or midrashim, and they merely uncovered the truth behind the Biblical story. Because the Bible, as we all know (wink, wink) is just one big conspiracy story to hid the real history from us gullible believers.

Melachim Gimmel is basically the life story of Yerov'am (Jeroboam) son of Navat, the fourth king of Israel (first king after the split between Yehuda and rest of the tribes). The book has three parts. The first tells the story of Yerov'am's childhood and young adulthood, and lays the foundation for the "secrets" to be revealed later in the story. Mind you, at this stage we the readers are not really supposed to know that it's Yerov'am the story is about; he is called Shlom'am in his youth (altough it beats me how anyone with cursory knowledge of the Bible can miss it). The second part moves to Michal, daughter of King Sha'ul and wife of King David, who is following her husband's steps (upon his visit to Achish, the Philistine king) by acting as if she's crazy in order to fool everyone around her. In reality, the screaming and the lighting of thousands of candles at night are a ruse to hide her conspiracy with Hadad the Edomite to fell her husband and restore the kingdom to her father's family (you guessed right: Yerov'am). The third and final part is the part where it all comes together and Yerov'am becomes king of Israel, thus fulfilling the true prophecy of Elisha.

The Biblical story is turned on its head by Brandes. The King David dynasty and the tribe of Yehuda are depicted as the evil ones, whereas the King Saul dinasty and the tribes of Binyamin and Efraim are the good guys. The only reason the Bible says it differently is because the scribes of the time were ordered by the palace to write false stories. For example, David never really killed Goliath, Saul never really persecuted David (quite the contrary) and God never stripped the kingdom away from Saul to give it to David.

Brandes is not the first to write a "revolutionary" narrative of the Bible. Anita Diamant did it years ago with the story of Dinah. Shlomit Avramson did it recently with the story of Tamar and Yehuda. Even the story of the generations-long struggle between the dynasties of Saul and David was rendered into a (much better, futuristic, novel) by Chagai Dagan. But Brandes writes pretty well, so at least the shalowness of the "new narrative" and the "hidden secrets" are not all that tedious, and the book can be read and be done with in a few hours. Good riddance.

The Lion's Muffled Roar

The District Court in Jerusalem refused yesterday to overturn the moral turpitude clause in Aryeh Deri's 1999 verdict. This means that Deri will not be able to run for mayor of Jerusalem. This is good news.

Deri is considering to appeal to the High Court of Justice. I hope he does, so that the last nail goes into the coffin and the lion is buried for good (or at least for these elections).

Financial Crisis: Explained (Again)

A day before Congress decides on the bailout plan for the financial markets (and for all of us), is a perfect day to be reminded of this video from about a year ago. How sadly prescient it was:

The Amnesiac, by Sam Taylor

The Amnesiac is a strange book. I bought it following a recommendation on VSL, that called the book "unputdownable". Well, it took me a few days to get through it, so I wouldn't define it quite as such. But it is an intriguing book, as one would expect from a book about amnesia.

James Purdew is a 30-year-old Briton that leads a more or less contented, easy-going life in Amsterdam with his girlfriend, Ingrid. A leg injury has him confined to the apartment for a while, which gets him thinking about life in general and his in particular (lesson for life: do not think too much!) He gradually realises he has this blank about three years in his past, and when he checks his diaries he finds out those relating to that period are locked in a box to which he has conveniently lost the key. As his relationship with Ingrid hits a dead-end anyway, he decides to head back to England to retrace his past.

So far so good, and up until this part the book was indeed "unputdownable". A great start. But this is where things get more complicated. James starts his detective work by going back to the house he lived in during his university days. The plot goes back and forth in time and various clues come together, pieces of the past. James starts feeling this is all part of a bigger picture that keeps eluding him. He also gets the feeling he is being manipulated by greater forces.

The story is hard to follow, not only because of the obvious "holes" of James' missing past, but also because of the writing style. Narration switches between James and a mysterious narrator, that claims at times to be in the same room as James. Excerpts of other works are inserted alongside the main story. There are several characters, in different times, whose names or initials are similar. Taylor also switches between genres: science fiction, mystery and drama. This is partly why this book is slow to read; the reader is curious to find out what is going on, but the style is such that it slows down the reading pace.

The end is rather disappointing, as one suspects what happened quite early on in the story. Nevertheless, this is a book I would recommend and certainly a great debut book for Sam Taylor.

PS - I was reminded of the movie Memento while reading this book (note to self: must watch that movie again).

History in the Making

These days most of us are going about their lives as usual: work, school, family... And yet the events of the past few months, and especially of this week, are probably nothing short of history in the making.

The American government bails out the two largest mortgage companies. Three out of the five leading banks in Wall Street are no longer with us. The largest insurance company is asking the government to throw it a lifeline. And the world stockmarkets are in a freefall.

We are all immediately affected by this "financial tsunami", through our mortgages, our savings, our pension funds and the value of our home. Yet these are merely the immediate effects and there is a much bigger picture to consider here. In the words of Alan Greenspan, this is a "once-in-a-century" crisis.

The banking system, unlike other parts of the economy, is built on trust and that trust has been eroded to a dangerous degree. The US government made a courageous decision by not saving Lehman Brothers at the last minute, preferring to send out a message that this mess needs to sort itself out with market forces. But this is a huge gamble, one that places the entire market-based economy approach to the test, the results of which may alter our lives in ways unimaginable (some say unthinkable) at this point in time.

By definition, it is not easy to discern clearly when history is being made. History is a hindsight business. But I'm paying close attention, as years from now I might find myself telling my grandchildren what life was like during the turnpoint year of 2008.

43.7%

The primaries for the new leader of the ruling political party, Kadima, are taking place this week. One of the candidates, Shaul Mofaz (currently the Transport Minister) called a press conference yesterday and predicted he will win. So far - no news; typical candidate behaviour.

The interesting, and mildly disturbing, piece of news is that Mofaz confidently predicted to one and all that he will win with exactly 43.7% of the vote. Not 40% or 45%, mind you, but exactly 43.7%.

My first reaction was that I probably misheard (or rather misread, as I get my news from the Web). How can anyone possibly predict an election outcome with such precision? Surely even the most secular political candidate in Israel is aware of the saying of Rabbi Yochanan in the Talmud: since the destruction of the Temple, prophecy was taken from the Prophets and given to fools and children. Who in his right mind, i.e. not a fool or a child, would want to make such a prediction?

But then I remembered it is Mofaz we are talking about, and everything became clear. Mofaz, who has a lengthy military career behind him, was head of the IDF Officer School (Bahad 1) when I was there all those years ago. And even though as a cadet I did not bump into him that often, the impression that stuck in my mind from those few occasions I did hear him speak was that of a bumbling fool. I still remember all the jokes officers used to make about him behind his back. No wonder then that he, of all people, should be blessed with the gift of prophecy.

Do we Deserve Gaydamak? - A Year Later

On the eve of the current new Jewish year, I asked whether we Israelis deserved Gaydamak, the Russian-born billionaire with the questionable background that decided to run for mayor of Jerusalem. I added that if indeed we did deserve him, then we had some serious repenting to do.

A year on, it seems our repenting is starting to work and there are signs this particularly odious phenomenon may be starting its exit from the Israeli public arena. May this be the beginning of a wonderful fade out.

The Return of the Lion

Aryeh Deri, former minister, MK and leader of the ultra-orthodox party Shas, announced today he has decided to run for mayor of Jerusalem. Small problem: he was convicted and sent to prison 9 years ago, and the offences carried moral turpitude which prevent him from running for public office until next year. So he's asking, nicely, to let him run anyway and if that won't work, he will likely go to the President to ask for pardon.

Reminder: Deri was found guilty of corruption, breach of trust and taking bribes. He waged a campaign against the legal system for years, procrastinating at every possible junction while blaming the "ashkenazi elites" for political and racial persecution. He has never admitted guilt.

The Israeli public has a very short memory and an astonishing tolerance for chutzpah. Whilst this criminal has paid his debt to society, his asking for leniency on the ban to run for public office is unacceptable. It is inevitable (almost a law of nature) for Deri to come back to politics eventually, but he should not be allowed back by using the same old mixture of an attitude of self-entitlement coupled with shady dealings behind the scenes. Some humility and integrity are in order.

Hamei Yoav, Israel

For our wedding anniversary yesterday, my wife and I spent a day and a night at Hamei Yoav, a natural baths and spa complex in southern Israel. We've never been and as it's a relatively short drive away nowadays, with route 6, why not?

Here's why not. The place is in dire need of a facelift. A new coat of paint will be a nice start. My masseuse told me the place is run by the adjacent two kibbutzim, which explains the poor management of the facility. It's a shame to see such a beautiful place deteriorate through neglect. It can become a real gem with proper attention.

On the bright side, what can be wrong with a day spent lounging in various smelly pools, enjoying a massage and eating in an Indian restaurant in suprisingly well-developed and clean-looking Ashdod? But next time I'll probably choose another spa.

Transparently Pointless

I was in Boston this week and naturally could not avoid getting exposed to the Democratic Convention taking place in Denver. I was meaning to write about my impressions from this vacuous event, but after reading The Economist's correspondent's post on IntelligentLife.com about the American talent for "creating transparently pointless political rituals", I don't have much to add.

There is one other remarkable American talent I wonder about: the ability to stomach cheesiness and fake emotions without puking (or hurling some heavy object at the TV). Michelle Obama's address was a masterpiece of fake emotions; how can anyone possibly believe the her voice genuinely hang, every so precisely, during critical moments in her speech? And when Hillary Clinton got to the "No way! No How! No McCain!" part, the camera showed Bill smiling and shaking his head, as if amazed to hear this gem come out of his wife's mouth; how can anyone possibly believe he has not heard this before?

I keep asking myself whether most Americans believe this blatantly fake nonsense or if this entire charade is just a perpetuum mobile that nobody can stop.

LibraryThing.com - My Library Online

For years I've had this dream to create an electronic catalogue of all the books I own. I looked at various software packages but all of them required too much effort and too much time. The improvised solution I use for cataloguing my movie collection (using an Excel spreadsheet...) works well for a few hundred DVDs, but is inefficient for all my books.

So you can imagine the "Eureka!" scream I let out last week when I stumbled upon LibraryThing.com. I kicked myself hard when I saw the site/service has been around for more than two years. And then I kicked myself even harder for not thinking about such a service myself.

The idea is very simple: you enter the book's ISBN (or, if you don't have it, some key words like title or author) and the site searches for the book in hundreds of databases worldwide. One click on the book's title adds it to your online library, including the cover image and various details about the book. The site has several other nifty features, making the entire experience quite enjoyable.

I've only just started adding my books to my LibraryThing.com library (a permanent link is on the right sidebar of the blog), so it's going to take a while before they are all online. I can't wait.

Uniqlock

Uniqlo is a clothing retail chain from Japan. They came up with a brilliant branding idea: Uniqlock. Explanation here. I'm hypnotised.

Nachamu - Zion and Jerusalem

על הר גבוה עלי לך מבשרת ציון, הרימי בכח קולך מבשרת ירושלים, הרימי אל תיראי, אמרי לערי יהודה הנה אלהיכם

(ישעיה מ', ט')

This shabbat we read the first of the seven haftarot of consolation (sheva de'nechamata), the first one being from chapter 40 of Yeshayahu, known also as nachamu, nachamu ami ("comfort ye, comfort ye, My people"). The prophet calls upon Zion and Jerusaem to comfort the people of Israel:

"O thou that tells good tidings to Zion, get up into the high mountain; O thou that tells good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah: 'Behold your God!'"

(Yeshayahu 40, 9)

So who is the one that brings good tidings to Zion? And who is the one that brings good tidings to Jerusalem? And what is the difference between Zion and Jerusalem?

Some commentators explain that the verse refers to the prophets themselves, those who bring good tidings to the people. Most of the prophets were men, and the Hebrew word for "brings good tidings" here is mevasseret which is in the female form; this is explained in several ways, one of which is that the verse refers to the congregration of prophets, rather than to a single prophet, and whe word congregation in Hebrew - eda - is indeed in the female form.

But more interestingly, other commentators explain that Zion and Jerusalem are themselves the bringers of good tidings. And from this explanation we can try and understand the difference between the two.

Zion and Jerusalem are mentioned earlier in Yeshayahu (chapter 2), a verse we read every time we open the ark: "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of God from Jerusalem." The Malbim writes that Zion is a name given to the seat of the Sanhedrin, the high court of 71 sages that sat in a designated room in the Temple (lishkat ha'gazit), and hence "the law" goes forth from Zion. Jerusalem, on the other hand, is the city itself, from which the words of the prophets, "word of God", goes forth to the rest of the land, the cities of Judah. This distinction holds also in our case. Zion, a symbol of the Temple, needs to "get up into the high mountain", as befits the Temple Mount and the high place reserved for kings, sages and priests. Jerusalem, a symbol of the prophets of the city, needs to "lift up its voice in strength", so that God's message is heard all over the world.

The same idea is further expounded by R. Avraham Kook. The double consolation of the prophet (nachamu, nachamu) refers to two types of redemption: an earthly redemption - Jerusalem - which is similar in nature to the national aspirations of all people on earth. And a spiritual redemption - Zion - which is unique to Israel and will come with the restoration of the Temple and the kingdom of Israel.

Our generation has been blessed to have witnessed the first redemption, that of Jerusalem. God willing, we shall also be blessed to witness the second redemption, that of Zion, soon in our times.

This idea for this week's thought is from R. Avraham Rivlin.

No Short-Nosed Dogs Allowed

I connected to the internet in the ANA lounge at Narita airport this morning. After connecting, the browser is automatically directed to the ANA home page. Just before closing the browser window, I spotted the following headline under "ANA News": Resumption of Carriage of Short-nosed Dog. Obviously, I couldn't resist the temptation to click on this intriguing piece of news.

And here's the full story, copied here for posterity (the Japlish is ANA's, not mine):

Thank you for choosing ANA flight.

W accept a pet particularly carefully during the traveling. ANA will suspend carriage of certain breeds of short-nosed dog from July 1st to September 30th. In accordance with professional veterinarian viewpoint, Short-nosed dogs are vulnerable to environmental health condition in the summer season compare to other breeds, ANA decides that, at the current moment, we can not confirm to provide safe carriage of pet.

We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

1. The term for effective: July 1st- September 30th,2008

2. Applicable Flight: All ANA Group operating flights (Domestic and International)

3. Applicable Breeds: Bulldog, French Bulldog, Boxer, Shih Tzu, Boston Terrier, Bull Terrier, King Charles Spaniel*, Tibetan Spaniel, Brussels Griffon, Chow Chow, Pug, Chin, Pekingese

* Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is NOT same as King Charles Spaniel, ANA can accept Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

It's a shame I didn't bring my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with me on this trip, as it would have been allowed on board!