53 New Moon Party

For the last few years now I have been an almost constant guest at the parties for the celebration of the 'New Moon' that are held in our region – thanks to my children, for whom these parties are an integral part of their world, and especially due to my son, who organizes some of these occasions and plays his cello at them. In this way I am brought somewhat closer to this special community that made our area a 'Spiritual" center. What I mean by this is the combination of some Jewishness, some of 'Yemima' teachings, some ecology as well as principles of healthy, organic nutrition and sometimes some 'New Age' as well. And of course a lot of music, primarily music with an 'ethnic' character, like the music which the ensemble in the photo plays. This 'Spirituality' which has earned itself a national reputation, competes with an opposing tendency which 'sells' our region as much esteemed real estate plots, much as 'Iraels's Provence', and it isn't difficult to guess that the real estate will win this competition. But in the meantime, the 'Holistic College' is flourishing here and perhaps there will be room for both tendencies without one defeating the other.

This photo was taken a week ago, at the last 'New Moon' occasion. It was a cold clear night but there was no rain. On the path leading to the shack there were still big puddles, however before the bonfire mats were spread and adults and children sat facing the fire. Inside the ensemble played as if to itself and at the other end of the shack there was a table with doughnuts and wine. A short time before I left, the people from Tel-Aviv arrived and I realized that the night was still young. At least three of them brought their instruments with them and I can only imagine that the jam session that began after the ensemble program, lasted long into the night.

Look at the musicians and their instruments. Note the saz and the little harp on the left and the different types of drums in the middle. Notice the warm light and the brown, wooden walls. Note as well the many microphones and the computer.

52 On Lending Films

I have never used the services of a 'videomat'. For a short period of time I had a subscription to a video library and recently I had one to a DVD library, but I gave it up. Today I make due with films of the cable network and from time to time I order a film on VOD. There I discovered films of the 'third ear' and found two treasures: 'The Kingdom', directed by Lars von Trier and 'Heimat 1', directed by Edgar Reitz. I immediately became captivated again seeing these two masterpieces. I remember how, in the 1980's we traveled to Tel Aviv on two long weekends to see 'Heimat 1' at a cinema. Seeing the film again was not disappointing in spite of the fact that certain pictures that had, in my memory, become somewhat mythological – for instance, Paul, who upon returning from the war, enters the village – now seem less impressive. But the 'village fool' Glazisch who tells the story and looks through the pictures, remains as impressive as ever.

Seeing 'The Kingdom' again was riveting. Although the subject of hidden ghosts and the unknown is irritating at times, the series is excellent and the acting is wonderful. What madness there is in the citadel of rationality, how dark desires combine as do many beliefs and nonsense, with modern medicine at its best, often all in the same person! In short, I spent an entire month immersed in these new-old revelations.

Today I hear more and more about 'downloading' films from the internet, that is to say, copying them from the world wide net to the home computer. I haven't reached that stage as yet; I don't even copy music in this way. But perhaps I shall choose another solution and acquire a new version of a cable box, which is called 'Magic' on the cable network that I am connected to. That would enable me to record without using any additional device or discs. That way I could see films broadcast on cable channels at hours convenient for me.

When I look at the 'videomat' on the wall between two stores, I think that this is an innovation that has already outlived its time. But perhaps I am wrong.

51 Once Upon a Hanukkah

'Once upon a Hanukkah/ the children were about to fall asleep/ the classroom was empty/ only the first candle still flickered/ silence, darkness, not a person in sight.../ the pots and pans were alone'. So begins Alterman's poem 'Nes Gadol Haya Poh', which tells about the Hanukkah game the household utensils played at night, after they recovered from their fear and said to the clock that had insulted them 'Shut up, fool. You talk nonsense. You yourself are nothing but a rag'. Primus Yehudah, aided by the Sabra flower pots – that is to say the Maccabim, defeated the Greek chairs and the tea kettle elephants that night.

We heard this wonderful poem in our childhood again and again and even dramatized it and fought, dressed up as a broom, a funnel, a primus and a puppy. Of course we knew it by heart from beginning to end and many of us can even now recite large parts of it from memory. The Hanukkah songs that we sang somewhat later in a choir, in four voices, included 'Here He Comes with His Army' to music from the oratorio 'Yehuda Maccabi' by Handel and 'Maoz tzur yeshuati' – also became part of us, and to this day I can sing the base part without a mistake.

'Once upon a Hanukkah' we would recite for our pleasure even when we were already grown up and would use ironic dramatization and extreme intonation in order to disguise our nostalgia. The photo shows us as we appeared in a 1971 Hanukkah party (at the time we were soldiers on leave) reading the poem. On the right are 'the chairs' Aryeh and Yaron, after them are Nachum 'the broom', Amos 'the primus' and myself 'the tea kettle'. And then Yigal 'the clock' and Amram 'the dreidle'.

50 Kikar Hamoshava

Kikar Hamoshava (The Village Square) has been and continues to be the center of the community. Although new neighborhoods have been built some distance away and the community already numbers tens of thousand of inhabitants, the square and the two streets that cross it remained the heart and center. During the day the streets that are nearly two hundred meters long in every direction, are bustling with people and cars are parked bumper to bumper. But in the evening the square empties and at night it is all but deserted.

The orange building on the right is a large store that sells office supplies, books, toys, computers and what not. Next to it is an elongated one story building which has columns in front of it, that contains two spice stores, a little restaurant, a book store that has seen better days and a toy shop. On the left edge of the picture the larger building of the bank can be seen and after that, the Super. Opposite it (outside the photo) are the mini shopping center which is half empty, a few more stores and a pharmacy. Further along that road are the seamstress' shop, the photography store and the bakery. And that's about all, that's the end of the center.

Continuing on the photo's right hand side, going down the street to the north, are two other banks, a computer store, a pet food shop, two clothing stores and an optometrist. After that another bakery, a new cafe, two pizza stalls and a barbershop. And that's it. After the crossroads (and the furniture store and framing shop) one comes to the Itin Play Ground.

East of the Moshava square, after the kiosk, is the post office and Yad Labanim (the Soldiers Memorial) and after them the Moshava administration building. Not long ago there was also a large bus terminal, but that is a thing of the past. To the center's west there is a cleaning materials store, two electrical supplies stores, another book shop, three household equipment stores, yet another clothing store, a religious supplies store, a flower shop, another barber and a grocery store – and that's about it. Further on is the Matnas (the Community Cultural Center).

Look at the square and its cheerful goats. It is charming but not very interesting. But look beyond the square at the series of columns in front of the elongated building. It is like a capsule frozen in time for tens of years. But the cellular antenna on the horizon reminds us of time marching on.

49 1965 Photo of "Sela"

Here we are in the classroom in front of the blackboard for a formal picture wearing the blue shirts of the "Hashomer Hatzair". In the top row from right to left are: Gilead, Noam (myself), Iris, Baruch, Yaron, Na'ama, Aharon and Uriel. In the middle row from right to left are: Dalia, Ze'ev, Edna, Yigal, Nava and Arieh. The three girls on the right in the bottom row are Batia, Yonit and Vered. They were new Rumanian immigrants who joined us for a short time only. After them in order are: Bina, Ishai and Hagit. The kneeling ones are: Amos and Yair.

That is the entire class, which is also the entire "group" which was known as "Beith Nir" in the "Hashomer Hatzair" ken of the Kibbutz. The "movement" was a vital part of our lives. Once a week we had an "activity" in which we discussed social and political subjects or went on a night outing (which combined military and adventurous elements), or we made camp fires and built scout structures.

Lately the opportunity presented itself and I found myself actively involved in a book by the historian George Mosse entitled "Nationalism and Sexuality". There he considers at length the German youth movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. To be sure, I knew of the historical connection between Hashomer Hatzair and the European youth movements, its romanticism as well as its rising nationalism. I had also heard from my mother about the "Werkleute" movement in Berlin and about their hikes in the forests (to wander, to wander is the Shomer's desire", to those who remember). But the intensive reading of Mosses' book made a deep impression on me. How similar the ethos of the German youth movement in the early 20^th century is to the ethos of "Hashomer Hatzair"! Love of nature, rejection of the bourgeoisie, the conviction of having a national mission, even the body image and the abstinences (the ten commandments of "Hashomer Hatzair", to those who remember, and above all "preservation of sexual purity and the prohibition of drinking wine").

The youth movement in the kibbutzim was void of meaning from the very beginning since it lacked the essential element: the revolt of the son. The founders of the German youth movement as well as the generation of our parents in "Hashomer Hatzair" revolted against their parents' way of life. For them the youth movement was the beginning of a new way of life. The following generation could not maintain this; we admired the historic revolt of our parents but were expected to give up any revolt on our part.

But in spite of that we loved the life in the movement, the "activities", the "camps", the "Shomriot" (the big national get-togethers of all the youths in the movement), and that entire world, which was a kind of autonomy of exuberant youth.

48 Today – 51 Years Ago

On this day 51 years ago I sat in an air raid shelter (in the picture I am sitting in the upper left hand corner, a lively, curly headed boy in shorts and a sweater that my mother knitted and listened to a story that Malvina told us. What stories did we hear at that time? Who knows. But I do remember from about that time the story of "Little Hunchback Horse". I remember that we sat between the bushes when the shelter was being dug and the gigantic bulldozer uprooted bushes near us. Afterwards, when the building of the shelter was completed, we ran from the children's house to the little wooden bunks under the ground to see how long that took. And all the nights of the Sinai War we slept crowded together there in three tiers. In the evenings, together with our parents, we listened to the 'central radio' (the loudspeaker connected to the only radio set in the kibbutz) and heard an authoritative voice talking about the battles that were taking place.

At that time children from the nearby air force base were added to my "group". And one night Benny Peled came to us in his flying overalls and gear to visit his son Yoram.

At the top of the picture, opposite me to my right sits Yaron. Under him Malvina is reading us a story. And next to her is Hagit (looking at the camera). Below her is – Amos. Above him, standing and leaning on the wooden pillar is Ishai. And to his left (next to me) is Bina. Under me you can see Gilead's head. In front, before Malvina sits (with his hand under his chin) Yair. The rest I can't identify with certainly.

In the course of time Ishai and I became pilots in the air force. So did Yoram, Benny Peled's son. Ishai's plane was shot down at the beginning of the Yom Kippur War in the Bardawil region of Sinai. For some time he was considered missing in action until we learned that he was a prisoner of war in Egypt. Today he is an El Al pilot. Gilead was killed toward the end of the war in the Golan. He did not have a permanent assignment when the war broke out; he was in an 'officers pool'. A group from that 'pool' joined a force that fought in the Golan. He was in a jeep when he was hit by a shell.

Yaron, Hagit, Bina, Ishai and Yair continue to live on the kibbutz to this day.

47 Saturday Morning at Sdot Yam Beach

More than a year has passed since the first column of "Pictures from my Cell Phone" appeared. I started it with one of my favorite places to which I return time and again – the beach of Sdot Yam. I photographed the sunset. When I look over my photo collection from that period, I see that I shot dozens of pictures of the sun setting in the sea. This is for me the most beautiful hour on the beach. How good it is to feel the slightly warm breeze and walk barefoot in the shallow water at sunset.

But lately I have devoted the last hours of daylight before Shabbat to my bicycle trips and here I am at the beach in the early morning hours. There are still only a few people here. The sea is stormy and the water almost reaches the sun sheds in the photo's right hand side. Two or three brave swimmers are in the sea and a father and his son are riding the waves in a canoe that isn't seen in the picture. The man on the left hand side is watching the canoe which just now reached the buoy in the center of the bay.

As yet the paddle ball and soccer players have not arrived. The peace and quiet of the sea are almost dream-like. But in another moment a huge wave will sweep over the dry sand at the pictures base and drive me away to a spot some ten meters from the sea. I read the final pages of "Disgrace" by Coetze. What a powerful book, what a wonderful author. I try to discover the meaning behind his subtle hints. Why the black neighbor is called Petrus (the name of one of the first Christians)? Why is the name of the young attacker Pollux (a name from the Greek Mythology)? Why was the episode at the University of Cape Town told before the story of the rape on the farm? What is the meaning of the first chapter that stands alone? And what are Byron, the great English poet and his abandoned lover Theresa doing here?

It is already warm. I shake off my thoughts and jump into the cool water – and clear my head of all this.