Tikkun Olam

Do you know why tourists don't come here much during the rainy season? Because it rains, that's why.  Israel, as well as this entire region, has a chronic water problem .  It is a scarce natural resource, and out of necessity (and I might add, Jewish ingenuity) Israel has become a world leader in the development of water technologies , such as drip irrigation and desalination. Well guess what, folks--it has poured for days since we got here. And to think my husband questioned why I packed our umbrella. Many consecutive days of heavy rain were sometimes interspersed with sunny days, today of which was one of them.  We took the opportunity to drive to Jerusalem, leaving our daughter alone in her apartment to 'sleep it off,' after a prospective tenant came to view the place at 8:30 a.m. this morning.  Ouch.  So after the person left, she went back to sleep, and we left for a mini day-trip and drove from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem  to visit the Kotel. Four weeks i...

We arrived here on January 24th, about three weeks ago, and received the surprise which I had almost not let myself hope for: there in the distance we saw, as we were pushing our two airport carts with great difficulty laden with our nine suitcases and bags-- yes, I said nine: we had bought two cheap suitcases at a Goodwill store and paid extra to bring them here, where they will stay; together with our carry-ons, purses/fanny packs, laptop and duty-free booze, it totaled nine--a slim girl with long curly hair in a wheelchair, and I said to myself, 'that couldn't be Rambo, she's so skinny...?'  And then she turned towards us and held up a hand-painted sign, written in Hebrew and English: "Bruchim ha-Ba'im, Eema and Abba!"  If you think at this point that I probably became a little emotional, you are right.  Actually I became a lot emotional.  I burst into tears and we both ran towards each other. Well, she wheeled , actually--much faster than I, by the w...