A taste of Israel comes to the City of Brotherly Love

Philadelphia: It means "brotherly love." In the city there is a restaurant called Zahav, which is Hebrew for "gold." The restaurant serves typical Israeli food prepared by Michael Solomonov, a trained chef who opened the restaurant. Michael Solomonov was awakened to his Israeli roots when his brother was shot and fatally wounded by a sniper while on duty with the IDF. Michael, who had been cooking at a popular Italian restaurant, garnered his own strengths and experience to open "Zahav," and honor his brother, if not all Israelis, whose lives are constantly on the line for daring to live in the Jewish state.

Chef Turns to Israeli Food To Honor Memory Of Brother

The West Bank Dilemma - What is the truth?

IsraNews - 17 Sivan 5771 - 19 June 2011
Parashat Korach - Numbers 16:1 - 18:32

"Some Things Don't Add Up"
by Jerry Waxman

Why is Gilad Schalit still in the hands of Hamas while half the world is pressuring Israel to bend over backwards for a "peace" deal with the Palestinians?

Why is Jonathan Pollard still in prison? And why can't he even get a few hours to go to his Dad's funeral? And why don't people in high places do anything about it?

Gilad Schalit; every soldier's issue. Every Israeli soldier and their mother should be outraged. Israeli officials have time and again given more than lip service to Hamas demands to free Palestinian prisoners. There should not even be any negotiations. Here is Hamas joining with Fatah to go to the U.N.to ask for recognition as a state. And they're holding a kidnap victim, not even letting the Red Cross see him.

Has any nation in the U.N. - any nation at all that has ever cried out for human rights - ever questioned the motives of the Palestinian leaders? Has anyone ever suggested that to be taken seriously they should observe international law, if not common sense morals. Has any organization - the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Peace Now, or B'tzelem ever demanded that the Palestinians release their hostage on humanitarian grounds? Has any head of state in the free world - including Israel - ever put their foot down and said, "No talks until Gilad Schalit is home?"

What's the real story with Jonathan Pollard? Why can't Israel's president, Perez, touch it? What has caused three U.S. presidents, at least, to just ignore Pollard, after hinting that they wanted him free. And now at the time of his bereavement, Jonathan Pollard cannot even go to the funeral. Why? What harm will he do?

. . .Week of 10-16 Sivan / 12-18 June 2011 . . .

. . .Headlines . . .

Cottage Cheese Ain't Selling Well While Israeli Consumers Protest The Price Rise . . .

'Ilan Grapel Spoke Arabic, Prayed, Supported Egypt Uprising' . . .

Negotiations For Schalit Hit Proverbial Brick Wall . . .

. . .World History Timeline . . .

• First U.S. President To Come To Israel Was Nixon - June, 1974 (JPost) Twenty-six years after the creation of the State of Israel, Nixon was the 1st sitting US president to set foot on its shores and in the hills of Jerusalem.
  
  On June 16, 1974, US President Richard Nixon made the first visit to Israel by a sitting US president. The visit, coming just over six months after the Yom Kippur War, was part of a wider trip to Middle Eastern countries meant to consolidate US influence in the region, solidify the ceasefire and separation of forces agreements brokered at the end of the Yom Kippur War, and do damage control in the aftermath of the painful 1973 Oil Crisis. The visit to Israel was the first of eight such trips made by five US presidents, and helped set a precedent in the relationship between the two countries.
  
  Nixon’s 24-hour visit to Israel came on the heels of stops in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Less than a year after the end of the Yom Kippur War, the United States had been intensely engaged in attempts to broker a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. Then-US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, who accompanied Nixon on his trip, had for months been conducting “shuttle diplomacy” between Israel and the Arab states in still failed attempts at strengthening the ceasefire and separation of forces agreements that ended the war.
  
  The United States had played a decisive role in Israel’s ultimate victory during the Yom Kippur War. As Israel ran dangerously low on ammunition and military hardware, Nixon had ordered a massive airlift of matériel. Over 500 cargo flights brought more than 20,000 tons of military hardware and ammunition from the United States and its military bases overseas. As a result, Nixon is often remembered in Israel for this life-saving aid when the country needed it most.
  . . . . .  See the rest of this story| |

***
• Israel Will Ask U.S. To Free Pollard For Father's Funeral (JPost) MKs express contrasting views on Pollard; Tibi: Calls for Pollard release are 'typical Israeli hypocrisy'; Ronit Tirosh says she will boycott US independence day party in protest of refusal to release jailed agent.
  
  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that in the coming days a diplomatic request will be submitted to the US for the release of imprisoned Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard so that he can attend his father's funeral.
  
  Netanyahu made the comments at a meeting with Likud ministers after Pollard's father, Morris, died Saturday morning at age 95 at Memorial Hospital and Health System in South Bend, Indiana.
  
  The imprisoned agent's family, American Jewish leaders and Knesset members had been lobbying for Jonathan to be granted what is called "compassionate leave" for 24 hours to allow him to see his father before he died.
  
  Earlier Sunday, MKs expressed split attitudes toward calls for Pollard's release.
  . . . . .  See the rest of this story| |

***
• Cottage Cheese Ain't Selling Well While Israeli Consumers Protest The Price Rise (Ha aretz) Two major supermarket chains offered discounts on dairy products after masses of Israelis vowed not to purchase due to exorbitant price increase.
  
  The consumers' revolt over the price of cottage cheese is showing mixed results, with steep declines on Friday in sales of the curds being reported by two major supermarket chains - and an even steeper rise in a third that took advantage of or joined in the protest - depending on your perspective - to slash its price for the staple.
  
  Peer pressure is having an effect. At a Mega store in Shoham on Friday afternoon a shopper reaching for a container of cottage cheese is roundly rebuked by another, who tells her, "You're hurting the protest." The would-be scab meekly withdraws her hand. A similar incident was witnessed in a Tel Aviv branch of Mega.
  
  Mega operator Blue Square admitted that the chain's cottage cheese sales on Friday were 25% below average. Blue Square did not join its rivals in slashing the prices of cottage cheese and other dairy products in recent days.
  . . . . .  See the rest of this story| |

***
• 'Ilan Grapel Spoke Arabic, Prayed, Supported Egypt Uprising' (JPost) 'Al-Ahram' quotes 3 witnesses telling Egyptian investigators that alleged Mossad spy's actions during protests had raised their suspicions.
  
  Egyptian witnesses told investigators that alleged Mossad spy Ilan Grapel raised their suspicions because he spoke fluent Arabic, participated in prayers and discussed "Jihad" with them, while urging them to continue in the revolt to "overthrow the oppressors," Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported Sunday.
  
  According to the report, a lawyer from the Egyptian Bar Association was currently representing Grapel.
  
  The investigation is expected to continue on Sunday.
  
  The three witnesses reportedly told investigators that Grapel had distributed leaflets calling on youths to demonstrate against and sabotage government authorities. The witnesses said Grapel had claimed to be a Romanian journalist sent by a Romanian agency.
  
  A high-ranking official in the Egyptian Prosecutor's Office told the newspaper that the US and Israeli embassies had not yet appointed Grapel an attorney.
  . . . . .  See the rest of this story| |

***
• Deputy Health Minister Ya'acov Litzman Supports Nurses And Doctors Strike (JPost) As nurses join ongoing doctors' strike, deputy health minister says "I will do everything so that agreements with nurses will be respected."
  
  Deputy Health Minister Ya'acov Litzman on Sunday expressed his support and understanding in the current nurses' strike as it joined the ongoing doctors' strike and applied sanctions simultaneously.
  
  As a result of the strikes, all elective surgery except emergency and oncological surgery were shut down.
  
  Litzman said that agreements should be respected and that the state has already approved 48 out of 84 job slots in government hospitals.
  
  The remaining 36 slots which still need funding were being negotiated in discussions between the Finance and Health Ministries.
  
  "I will do everything so that the agreements with the nurses will be respected," Litzman said.
  
  Regarding doctors, Litzman said, "No one wants to be treated by a doctor who has worked 26 hours straight. I will not let negotiations between the doctors and the Treasury proceed without reducing the [shifts] to 18-20 [hours]." The number of monthly residents is also crucial to the Health Ministry and it will work in their favor as well, Litzman added.
  . . . . .  See the rest of this story| |

***
• Negotiations For Schalit Hit Proverbial Brick Wall (News Source) New Israeli negotiator reportedly told Egyptian intelligence officials that if Hamas did not agree to latest deal for prisoner swap, there would be no deal at all.
  
  The fifth anniversary this Saturday of the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has seen a burst of activity on all sides to negotiate his release.
  
  Egyptian security officials involved in the talks told Haaretz over the weekend that the approach by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new envoy to the talks, David Meidan, could scuttle the negotiations and lead to Shalit's "disappearance."
  
  The Egyptians said Meidan told Egyptian intelligence officials in Cairo last week that if Hamas did not agree to the latest deal proposed by Israel, there would be no deal at all.
  
  The Egyptians said the Hamas negotiators, headed by the group's military chief, Ahmed Jabari, had responded to the Israeli approach with a clear threat that the talks would end and a deal for Shalit would be off the table.
  
  Hamas said Israel's unwillingness to go further than its last offer would lead to Shalit's disappearance, the Egyptians added.
  
  The Egyptians said that after Meidan arrived in Cairo, it was obvious that Israel had no intention of compromising. In contrast, the officials said, Hamas and Jabari were willing to change their positions.
  
  The officials said they had told Meidan he does not know Hamas and its leadership well enough to understand that an uncompromising position that contains an implicit threat would achieve the opposite result.
  . . . . .  See the rest of this story| |

***
• For Portman, It's A Boy! (Ha aretz) The Israeli-born, New York-raised actress, Natalie Portman, who turned 30 last Thursday, announced in December she was pregnant and planned to marry her boyfriend Benjamin Millepied.
  
  Actress Natalie Portman has given birth to a baby boy fathered by a choreographer she met while she filmed her Oscar-winning role in "Black Swan," People magazine reported on Tuesday.
  
  The report did not say where or when the birth took place, and there was no immediate comment from Portman's publicist.
  
  Portman, who turned 30 last Thursday, announced in December that she was pregnant and planned to marry her boyfriend, French ballet dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied.
  
  The two worked together on "Black Swan," in which Portman played a self-mutilating ballerina. She won the Academy Award for her performance in February.
  . . . . .  See the rest of this story| |

***

• ---

  The Friendly Universe - Law of Attraction in Action 

  ---

IsraNews - 10 Sivan 5771 - 12 June 2011
Parashat Sh'lach

"Israel Is Set Apart"
by Jerry Waxman

This is the first installment of our weekly news round-up. As most other news accounts concerning Israel focus largely on its security measures and problems with its enemies, at Israel MagNet we look for a different story. While politicians and journalists only concern themselves with violent clashes and heated disputes over land rights (and wrongs) we find stories of accomplishment and achievement. We promote the side of Israel that is constructive and positive and making improvements in life for all of Israel and all of the world.

We also pertain to the uniqueness that is Israel. Some stories - where other nations single us out in one way or another - may not seem so positive. But they must be included. In addition to all the great things that the people of Israel have accomplished, we also must always be aware that the rest of the world does not exactly support Israel.

And now, a summary of this last week:

Israel Has Been Set Apart

Jonathan Pollard is in the news now because he would like to visit his father who is very ill. Naturally we are hopeful that Jonathan will visit his father and that his father will recover. Meanwhile, his plea to be allowed to see his father brings up a broader concern about the whole Jonathan Pollard saga.

I will grant that I don't have all the information about Pollard's crime. And I will grant that Pollard's supporters may not be telling the whole story. In any event, the United States, specifically President Obama, the one man able to pardon Pollard, owes all Jewish people an explanation - "Why is Jonathan Pollard still locked up?" If he really is a security risk, tell us why that is so. Absent a good explanation, we are left with an obvious conclusion: Pollard is serving a prison sentence that is many times worse than anyone else has served for similar crimes because he was acting on behalf of the Jewish state.

European Sports: How Did FIBA Make Its Decision?

Rules are rules, and in sports rules must be adhered to. But to what extent? Certainly rules about uniforms are necessary. But again, how strictly do these rules need to be interpreted? The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) was approached with this question when the Israeli women's basketball team requested an exception. A religiously observant team member wears a t-shirt under her jersey for purposes of modesty.

FIBA answered that the t-shirt would not be allowed. Why? It's a rule. Why can't this one rule about a uniform be bent? How does it affect the game? Does a t-shirt give a player an advantage?

It may not be right to jump to conclusions. But something tells me that if the woman with a t-shirt were playing for a different country and of a different religion, FIBA's answer would be different.

Farewell to Al Schwimmer, War Hero Of A Different Kind Al Schwimmer passed away Friday on his 94th birthday. He distinguished himself in Israel's early struggles by smuggling aircraft into Israel. He was arrested in the U.S. for doing so, and stripped of his civil rights. Schwimmer thereafter made his home in Israel, where he established Israel Aircraft Industries. In 2001 as he was leaving office, President Clinton issued a pardon for Schwimmer. It must have surprised some people. Schwimmer had never asked for a pardon. It just came.

. . .Week of 3-9 Sivan / 5-11 June 2011 . . .

. . .Headlines . . .

Pollard: Let me see dying father . . .

FIBA: Orthodox Jewish Basketball Player May Not Add T-Shirt To Uniform . . .

U.S. investing $9 million in Israeli alternative fuels start-up companies . . .

Al Schwimmer, Founder of Israel Aircraft Industries, Passes Away . . .

. . .World History Timeline . . .

• Humanitarian Assistance to Gaza - May, 2011 (Emet News) Despite reports to the contrary, Israel maintains an ongoing humanitarian corridor for the transfer of perishable and staple food items to Gaza. This conduit is used by internationally recognized organizations including the United Nations and the Red Cross.
  
  Weekly summary of the Gaza Crossings: May 22 to 26, 2011
  • 1,248 truckloads (34,012 tons) of goods, fuel, and development assistance for Gaza's civilian population. 340 truckloads of construction materials were transferred into the Strip during this period.
  • 826 tons of cooking gas were imported to the Gaza Strip, while heavy-duty diesel for the Gaza Power Plant was transferred directly from Egypt.
  • 279 international organization staff members entered Israel; 145 international organization staff members entered the Gaza Strip; and 434 patients and accompanying individuals crossed into Israel.
  • 10 truckloads of vehicles were transferred into the Gaza Strip.
  • One truckload of flowers to be sold in European markets was exported from the Strip.
  
  . . . . .  See the rest of this story| |

***
• Meitarim Raanana - An Accomplishment In Progressive Education (The Source) At Meitarim Raanana 62 students in grades 7-10 matriculate in classes based on academic interest and not their grade level.
  
  Initiated by a group of dedicated parents who sought an alternative to the either religious or general studies schools in the area, Meitarim Raanana grew out of need to offer teens a well-rounded high-quality open-minded Jewish education. After 18 months of planning, the program opened as a private school in Raanana this year. The need for a new form of education was apparent when community support for this project yielded high than expected registration for the school's first year.
  
  "Meitarim let's us make choices about our education today that will impact our future. Our teachers support us and guide us towards decisions. In the end, we the students need to take responsibility for our choices, both academic and extracurricular. In my old school everyone in my grade took the exact same classes, here I take classes with kids who share my interests. At Meitarim Raanana I have lots of friends and I like going to school." Ben, age 14.
  
  The school curriculum requires that each semester all students take a minimum number of required courses in following areas of study: Judaic courses, math, science and English and phys ed. In those disciplines they can chose from a number of electives. Additionally, students take electives in music, visual arts, philosophy, history and literature.
  . . . . .  See the rest of this story| |

***
• The Gurs Haggadah: Passover in Perdition
  Edited by Bella Gutterman and Naomi Morgenstern

  (The Source) The Gurs Hagaddah: Passover in Perdition is a deeply moving description of the lives of the Jews imprisoned in the Gurs detention camp in southwestern France, prior to their transports to the death camps. It contains actual memoirs of former inmates, including accounts of their deportations to the Gurs camp, as well as photographs, poems, paintings and sketches of the camp, and a copy of the handwritten Hagaddah used at the Passover seder in 1941. It is a remarkable volume.

  
  The inmates at Gurs tried to maintain spiritual and cultural activities and regular prayers, Shabbat and holidays, history, Bible and Talmud classes, played an important role in their spiritual resistance. "I never saw such devoutness, such religious fervor as I did in those miserable, cold and damp huts, in those makeshift prayer halls," wrote one of the rabbis interred there (page 34). (The camp authorities encouraged religious activities thinking it would lessen the feelings of resentment and frustration). One particularly moving illustration shows Rabbi Leo Ansbacher, the camp's chief rabbi, standing on a platform giving a sermon to crowds of inmates. The snowcapped French Pyreenes are in the background.
  
  When it was time to celebrate Passover in April 1941, eight thousand of the Gurs inmates signed a document that they were willing to give up bread for the eight days of Passover, not knowing in advance that they would be given flour for matzot instead. One of the inmates, Aryeh Zuckerman, painstakingly wrote down the Haggadah in block Hebrew letters over a period of months for use at this seder - this is the Gur Haggadah. Copies of it were printed in Toulouse for everyone's use at the Seder and some copies of the Hagaddah were sent to friends and family living outside the camp. Those copies were illustrated by a non-Jewish inmate, FritzSchliefer, a communist, with postage stamp size pictures showing the atrocities of the camp. He was later deported to Drancy and then to Auschwitz for his role in the seder.
  
  The Gurs Haggadah was discovered lying in a box in the archives of Yad V'Shem, the holocaust historical museum in Jerusalem, and was displayed there during Passover 1998. Visitors to the exhibit wanted to know more about the story behind the Haggadah and the archivists from Yad V'shem researched the circumstances surrounding its creation. They spoke with Rabbi Ansbacher who then lived in Tel Aviv, who was able to talk at length about the Gurs camp as well as the son of Aryeh Zuckerman who wrote a chapter called "My Father's Haggadah."
  . . . . .  See the rest of this story| |

***
• Pollard: Let me see dying father (YNET News) Jonathan Pollard's relatives issue plea for compassionate leave from US authorities to allow him to leave prison, see father in hospital after receiving news he 'may not last through day'. 'He was crying so hard,' says wife.
  
  Relatives of Jonathan Pollard – incarcerated for the past 26 years for espionage – are entreating US officials to allow him to see his father, 95-year old Morris Pollard, following the latter's hospitalization in dire condition.
  
  Esther Pollard, his wife, said she received a call from her crying husband Saturday. "He was crying so hard that it was difficult to process, and now I'm crying too. He said his father Morris was dying and they don't know if he will last through the day," she said.
  
  The wife added that the father and son had tried speaking on the phone, but that the elder Pollard was too weak even to hold the receiver to his ear. She said his sudden illness had come as a shock because he had been relatively healthy for his age.
  
  "Jonathan told him how much he loves him and thanked him for all he had taught him throughout the wonderful years they had together," Esther recounted.
  
  "Jonathan's voice broke when he told his father how sorry he is that the hopes and dreams of being together over the vacation were not realized, and asked him in a choked voice to kiss his mother when he gets to heaven, to tell her he loves and misses her."
  
  The wife says her husband pleaded with her to do everything in her power to convince the authorities to allow him to leave the prison and be with his father in his final hours.
  . . . . .  See the rest of this story| |

***
• FIBA: Orthodox Jewish Basketball Player May Not Add T-Shirt To Uniform (Ha-aretz) FIBA spokesman says that decision is 'final' to not allow Israeli national team point guard Naama Shafir to wear a t-shirt under her jersey.
  
  European basketball's governing body says it will not make allowances for an Israeli women's player's religious observance in the upcoming European championship.
  
  University of Toledo and Israeli national team point guard Naama Shafir is an Orthodox Jew who wears a T-shirt under her jersey for reasons of modesty.
  
  European basketball regulations say all players must wear precisely the same uniform and Munich-based FIBA Europe told the AP early Friday that it would not make an exception.
  
  FIBA Europe spokesman Sakis Kontos said "rules must always be upheld" and the decision is "final."
  
  The decision means the 21-year-old Shafir cannot compete at the tournament, which opens June 18 in Poland, if she insists on wearing the T-shirt.
  . . . . .  See related story| |

***
• U.S. investing $9 million in Israeli alternative fuels start-up companies (Ha aretz) HCL CEO Eran Baniel: 'We take agricultural waste and turn it into food for man and beast'.
  
  A joint Israeli-American venture developing alternative fuels from cellulosic feedstocks has scored a $9 million investment by the U.S. Department of Energy.
  
  HCL Cleantech is joining forces with the American biofuels startup LS9. Meanwhile, HCL has appointed an American manager in the stead of its founder, Eran Baniel, and has set out to raise more than $20 million.
  
  The investment by the Energy Department is part of the Obama administration's plan to reduce America's dependence on oil. The department says on its website that it is investing $36 million in six small-scale projects in the United States, each developing processes to produce energy either from biofuel - originating from organic sources - or forms of renewable energy.
  
  HCL's solution makes use of technology used in Germany decades ago, under the Nazis, to produce sugars from nonfood organic sources, mainly acidic cellulosic sources. The U.S. government grant will be used to improve the production technique, said Baniel. LS9's role in the joint venture will be to process the sugars produced by HCL into fuel. The two startups will be building a joint plant, either in Virginia or North Carolina, Baniel said.
  
  HCL was founded in 2007 based on research and development by Dr. Avraham Baniel, Eran's father, and Prof. Aharon Eyal. Baniel the elder is now 93, probably making him Israel's oldest high-tech entrepreneur. Avraham Baniel has spent 69 years doing industrial chemical research and developing its application. Eyal is a professor of applied chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Their company conducted feasibility tests of the technology in 2008 and proved that it works.
  . . . . .  See the rest of this story| |

***
• Al Schwimmer, Founder of Israel Aircraft Industries, Passes Away (Ha aretz) Adolph William ("Al") Schwimmer, founder of Israel Aircraft Industries and winner of the Israel Prize died on Friday at Tel Hashomer hospital on his 94th birthday. He is survived by his wife, Rena, a son, Danny, his daughter, Daphna and grandchildren. His funeral will be held on Monday.
  
  Schwimmer, an American citizen born in New York, was convicted in 1950 of violating the Neutrality Act for smuggling planes to Israel during the 1948 War of Independence. He was stripped of his civil rights, but not imprisoned.
  
  The American Jew was able to covertly bring the aircrafts to Israel by establishing false companies, one of which was purportedly the official airline of Panama. Schwimmer was in the Air Transport Command in World War II, providing him with many contacts that were pilots and in the airplane industry. He was able to use his contacts to transport the planes to Israel.
  
  Schwimmer was pardoned in 2001 by then outgoing U.S. President Bill Clinton. The pardon was awarded without any formal request from Schwimmer.
  . . . . .  See the rest of this story| |

***

The Friendly Universe - Law of Attraction in Action 

Chag Shavuot Sameach חג שבועות שמח

This story is in honor of the Shavuot Holiday: Feel free to comment.

The Old Man Was Weird

The old man was weird. I'm sorry, I don't mean any disrespect. He was just weird. He was always, I don't know . . . joyful. He didn't have any reason to be, from what I saw. But there he was, always grinning and happy like it was the best day in his life. Weird.

He showed up at all the events; weddings, bar mitzvahs, even my cousin's birthday party. He was like family, except nobody could say how he was related. Nobody remembered. He was like this forgotten fixture that you notice but you don't pay much attention to. He was always there. Always grinning.

He always brought a present when somebody was honored, like the bar mitzvah boy or the bride and groom.

You may be thinking, "So what? Everybody brings gifts."

Not the same gift every single time!

I 'm not kidding. He gave me the same thing when I graduated from college as he had given me when I was 8 years old and just had my tonsils removed.

"That's the old man!" my father once told me, "You may not know this . But he gave me the same thing when I came back from the war.

'You came back. That's good! Here, I have a little something for ya. It's got answers, it'll take your headaches away. Take care of your nightmares, too.'

"Then he gives me a book with no title on the cover. "

"Did you ever read it?" I asked my father.

"No, I never found the time. It's still around here, somewhere. Probably in storage."

The old man was at my wedding. I didn't even remember inviting him. But there he was, grinning and enjoying the music. He came over to us and this time he spoke to my new wife. But I could tell he was speaking to me too.

"Here, I have a little something for ya. It's got answers. You've got nothing to worry about, believe me. Everything's gonna be fine. You'll be rich if that's what you want. Here, take this and have a wonderful family."

That was a while back. I have no idea where my wife put that present. But I'm sure it's still around. We never throw away books. It's a rule in our house.

One time, I saw the old man when he wasn't grinning. In fact he had tears in his eyes.

My wife had found him. He was walking around like he was in shock and didn't know where he was. My wife brought him to our house and made him some tea. I sat down with him at the kitchen table.

"So, how are things?" I asked.

Silence. He just stared into blank space. It looked like he was staring at the newspaper on the table. So I inched it closer to him. But he didn't respond. He saw the paper, but he wasn't reading it.

"So, what do you think of the weather?" What else do you talk about with the old man?

He slowly raised his gaze. His saddened eyes gave me the answer loud and clear. "Are you kidding?"

He took a sip of tea. Then he sighed and rested his hand on the newspaper.

The top story was about the United States getting ready for war in the Persian Gulf. There was a side story about a terrorist event in Israel and some people were killed. And the rest of the front page had its usual stories about bickering and alleged scandals, and whatnot.

The old man finished his tea and went home. He never said what was bothering him so much. But obviously the newspaper didn't help. Weird.

-----------------------------

The day my son got married I wasn't in a good mood at all. I didn't care much for the bride, but that wasn't my business. I didn't understand a thing about his career goals - sweeping floors at a bar, but that wasn't my business either. Come to think of it, nothing was my business. Not even the wedding, itself, and I was paying for half of it.

Secretly or not so secretly, I always wanted that boy to be an architect, like me. I even got him some tools when he was a kid. But you know kids . Toys with batteries and space sounds, that's all they want.

Why was I thinking of that at my son's wedding? Somehow, as he was standing under the canopy, I had this vision - this feeling. He was going the wrong way and I wanted to stop it. All those tools and supplies I had gotten for him over the years, just sitting around collecting dust. He could be looking toward a great life if he had just tried them out. Ah, what the heck.

Then the old man comes in. Yeah, he's still around. And still weird. He comes in, grinning as usual. He joyfully moves his arms and head with the music like he's the only one there. Then, while we're all sitting, eating the most expensive fried chicken and french fries (Don't ask.) I've ever seen, the old man walks up to our table.

"Congratulations, congratulations!" he says to me and my wife. Then he turns to my son and his new bride. "Here, I have a little something for ya. It's got answers."

The old man pauses. "It's got answers," he begins again as he pulls his book up onto the table.

"Thanks, thanks a lot," my son says, while his wife is giving him a look that says, "What are we gonna do with a book?"

For the first time, the old man did not finish his speech. He looked at me, his smile starting to undo itself. I could see sadness in his eyes. He turned away and gazed at the crowd.

How many books had he given as presents throughout the years? All those people, all those events, all those ways they could need the magic in his book. And all those books lying in storage, never read, never glanced at. The grin came off our old friend as some realizations crept into his being. He walked out of the wedding.

-----------------------------

The old man is still around. I haven't seen him since the wedding, but he is still around.

I wish I knew the end of this story. I wish I could say that after all the people saw the old man stop smiling, that something awakened in them. That when they went home, they found the books that they had received as presents. That they dusted them off and began to read them.

I wish I could say that people began to see changes in their lives, and everyone found peace with themselves, and all those other things the old man used to promise.

But I don't know how this story ends. Maybe you do. Weird.

_______________________

Erev Shavuoth 5771

_____________________

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The Old Man Was Weird