Page 96 - Hey-book-2011-activities-RE4-fpage_Neat_HTML5

103

have deteriorated, but to want a little bit to call in yourself. To remember

that in your life you've already trusted to many leaders who have failed

you, but sell to yourself that maybe there is someone else. To tell yourself

that it's time to write up a will, but not to do it.

To be an Israeli. To feel an inexplicable fatigue in the middle of the day,

that starts in your shoulders and then goes down along the spinal column.

To be a secular [person] asking what's with god, or a religious [person]

asking what's with the IDF. To say "more people die in car accidents",

but unsure that this is still true. To calculate that after Jerusalem and

Haifa it would probably be Tel-Aviv's turn. To get angry when they say

"a sophisticated attack", because they don't even deserve this compliment.
To meet a friend who asks if you've heard that George Harisson died and

think he lives on mars. To know, in a clear and paralyzing way, that
within a day, two days at the most, you'll discover you knew someone

who died. And if not that, then someone who knows someone.

To be an Israeli. To say "I'm doing okay, the country is [doing] shitty".

To start with the words "except for the situation". To cancel trips because

now is not the time, and then to go anyway because the hell with all of it.

To be reminded of Rabin somehow. To find out that you've never spoken

to your son about that war and swear you'll find time for it. To want to go

to that Georgian movie everyone's been talking about, because you're in

the mood for something Israeli. To eat a little bit more than usually, to get

up later and then run, to notice that everyone's been telling jokes recently.

To know that all of this means something, but you're not sure what.

To be an Israeli. To feel that the country is a little too much for you. To

exchange familiar sentences with strangers, to hear strange sentences

from people you thought you knew well. To hear the prime minister

talking about "stamina" and realize, late, that this means you. To take
RE 4 All rights reserved to Ulpan-Or (www.ulpanor.com) Do Not Copy!
Jerusalem: 02-561-1132 Tel Aviv: 03-566-1493 New York 1-646-393-4709