Chag Sameach!

Passover starts tonight and I will be celebrating freedom with my uncle Itomar and his family. Right this moment I am feeling very sorry for myself that I won't be with my own family. I guess this is the price to pay for having chosen March to May for my adventure.

While I will miss very much being with Rafi and my daughters, Harley, my mother, Inge, Gabi and his family and Georgia and her family as we have celebrated together for so many years, I am lucky that this year I will get to find out what Israelis in Israel think and do when we say "Next year in Jerusalem!" - which we Jews always say at the end of the Passover Seder (who says we don't have a historic claim to this land? But I digress).  

The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed 2,000 years ago and this "Next year in Jerusalem" references Psalm 137, the well-known lament of the Babylonian Jews who wept "by the rivers of Babylon" and declared, "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither."

Logically, to Israelis "Next year in Jerusalem" should mean "Jerusalem" as the future city and its Temple, rebuilt when the Messiah comes. Somehow I suspect secular Israelis do not think this. But do they think about this at all? (And how obnoxious will I be if I start asking this as "the Fifth Question" at the Seder tonight?)

From the moment I got here five weeks ago, I have been invited to celebrate Passover many, many times, by both friends, family and people I had only met a couple of times. I know that what was once a mandate to feed the poor during Passover has evolved into a tradition of inviting people, often complete strangers, who would otherwise be alone, to their Seders.  Regardless, I am thrilled about it and infinitely flattered.

Tel Aviv is a secular city and I am sure it is very different an hour away in Jerusalem. I see matzah and kosher for Passover products being sold everywhere. All the kosher restaurants and cafes have had diminished inventory in the last few days as they prepare for the switch (or to be closed) for Passover. The corner AM:PM market (like a 7/11) has covered up shelves of chametz products The cab drivers wish me a Chag Sameach and ask me where I will be celebrating the Seder, and so does the lady at the dry cleaners (where I took my wool jacket which I now doubt will need again here). The flower shops are doing booming business. The local wine store was handing out samples of wine Kosher for Passover (amazingly, I had to sample quite a few before I decided what to get my uncle and his wife).  And apparently, there are kosher for Passover medicinal Cannabis cookies available in Tel Aviv too.

AM:PM market shelves with chametz covered up

Brisk business

But really, other than these things, it isn't so obvious that Passover is coming. Somehow I expected it would be a bit like December in the western world where you are hit with Christmas messages. It is nothing like that. I am sure it is different in Jerusalem but here, "in the Republic of Tel Aviv'" life goes on as usual, sort of.

What else is happening in the country?

Outside the pleasant Tel Aviv bubble, the papers report that security is on high alert ahead of Passover holiday. Large contingents of police, Border Police and volunteers were set to patrol crowded areas with the aid of helicopters. However, while the army has closed the West Bank border and put troops on alert for the first two days of the Passover holiday, the closure will only be in effect on Friday and Saturday. Reports say that if the security situation remains as appraised today, then during the remainder of the holiday no closure will be imposed -- for the first time in years.

This sounds draconian (under the ban, no Palestinians are allowed to cross into Israel except those needing medical care). But what else can the IDF do when Jewish holidays create crowds in synagogues and other public places that are most vulnerable to potential attacks by Palestinian militants? (the appeal of blowing yourself up to experience the the 72 virgins, again).

On another front, a large police force was sent to Eilat on Thursday for reinforcement, following the firing of a Katyusha rocket at the city from the Sinai Peninsula late Wednesday. The IDF had thwarted 10 different terrorist plots to attack the country from Sinai in the past two months. So, again, no one in Egypt is enforcing peace, with Israel stuck between bombing targets in the Sinai - Egypt! - and risking an escalation into all-out war, and allowing Israeli civilians to be hit in Eilat. (And the Moslem Brotherhood hasn't even yet been voted in. That comes in May.)

Here is a 59-second Passover greeting video from the IDF chief of staff. Enjoy!

(In case your Hebrew is as bad as mine, in essence it says: This evening we gather around the Seder table to celebrate Passover with the Jewish people. Just like every day... IDF soldiers of the various units will be at Israel's borders, on patrols and posts, flying and on vessels - prepared for any incident that would require us to defend the security of Israel's civilian population. Happy Passover to all who celebrate in Israel and around the world).

Best wishes for a Happy Passover or a Happy Easter to all who read this (with my heartfelt thanks for all the encouragement you have been sending me).

"Next year in Jerusalem!"