A Literary Day in Israel

Today’s activities in the Tel Aviv area involved two favorite spots: Halper’s Book Store and Old Yafo.

 

Halper’s is described as “a labyrinthine trove of over 50,000 titles.” Although most of them are in English or Hebrew, there are quite a few French and German books as well. While in the two chains that control most of the Israeli market, Tzomet Sfarim (Book Junction) and Steimatzky, current English language paperbacks sell for about 23 dollars (82 shekels), I walked away from Halper’s with a full shopping bag for 142 shekels (about 40 dollars). For bibliophiles, it’s a treat to walk through the aisles and aisles of books and come upon old favorites, interesting titles, shelves of fantasy and science fiction.

 From Halper’s, it was onto Old Yafo, which is a short drive along the Mediterranean.

 

This seemed a particularly appropriate time to visit. During the High Holiday season, Jews perform the ritual of Tashlich, where the previous year’s sins are ceremoniously cast off into a natural body of flowing water. Living inland, my community usually goes to a neighbor’s backyard and uses a small fish pond. Inspired by New Year at the Pier, April Halprin Wayland’s Sydney Taylor Book Award winner; and given the quality and quantity of my sins, I needed a larger venue. So I stood by the sea and recited the prayers, hoping for “my mind to be at ease,” and to be “granted the privilege of being joyful with regard to serving God” as I cast all my sins into the depths of the sea.

 

 

On the afternoon of Yom Kippur, the Book of Jonah is read. Rabbi Menachem Posner (at Chabad.org) gives two reasons for this: the story of Jonah teaches us how no one is beyond the reach of G‑d's hand. Just as Jonah's endeavor to escape G‑d's providence was unsuccessful, so, too, we are incapable of eluding divine justice for transgressions we may have committed; and on a more uplifting note: G‑d spared the people of Nineveh although He had already decreed that they would be destroyed because of their evil ways. This teaches us that no matter our past behavior, G‑d's benevolence and mercy awaits us if we only repent full-heartedly.

Jonah tried to flee. “He went down to Jaffa and found a ship bound for Tarshish” (Chapter 1, verse 3). The Old Yafo area is replete with history, evidenced by the archeological finds dating back to 7500 BCE.

The harbor area has many shops, galleries and restaurants, included The Old Man and the Sea.

While they do not serve marlin (or shark), the Hemingway title also seemed relevant to the season with its symbolism (albeit Christian) and its themes of persistence and pride.

After meeting some “Real Cats of Israel,” it was home to start reading my treasures from Halper’s.

 Happy Reading!

Back to Normal?!

You know what they say about good intentions. I started blogging. I even got some incentives in the form of an Amazon.com gift certificate. But life happens, and I have not posted in some time. Part of my challenge was posting pictures and formatting my posts, so a friend (Thank you, Heidi) suggested I try this platform.

So what has happened? The summer went by much too quickly. I resolved my issues with one set of my mother's lawyers. I did some reading, though nothing too memorable. I am looking at the huge pile of books submitted to the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, and I can hardly believe that I kept up with the reading and reviewing for four years. I read all of the illustrated books, and if I can manage, I will be posting my thoughts.

Taslich at Turtle Rock was not one of my favorites. I am not a fan of inventing your own rituals, and this challenged me on two levels. One, the family was doing things on Rosh Hashana that usually aren't done (hiking, writing, erasing). Second, the Tashlich ritual and liturgy and so beautiful and meaningful, that by delving into the actual ceremony, the family could have found something worthwhile without making up their own stuff.

I have to admit that while I did create my own ritual, I have found a way to make it more meaningful for myself. The point is to "cast your sins about the water," and hopefully do better in the coming year. I avoided the social scene of the local crowd in town, and took a day during the week to go to a beautiful, quiet spot, where the water flows down waterfalls. I had the time to say the prayers with real intention, and these lines stood out:

"Grant us the privilage of being divorced from arrogance, anger, irritability and every kind of conceit." "May we eat only to satisfy our souls." "Grant us the privilege of being joyful with regard to Your Torah and Your commandments. May our trust be placed in You always and may we have a heart gladdened by Your serivce. " "Grant us success and achievement in all our studies and in our every handiwork and undertaking. May our homes be full of God's blessing, may our bread satisy us and may we be good."


Now that the Jewish holidays are over and the kids have a somewhat normal school schedule, I am trying to organize the house. Sometimes it can be daunting, but I am slowly making progress. Today's tasks: sew pillowcases, post old electric trains on Ebay, and catch up on some reading.