Iranians, drinking, dancing, driving and marrying
In which we wonder about possible Iran strike, overindulging on Purim, how salsa can bring peace, driving on congested freeways and how much weddings really cost
Just a thought
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was born in Iran. Dan Halutz, who was recently named as the next IDF Chief-of-Staff, is also of Persian descent. Hence, it appears that should Israel decide to strike at Iranian nuclear facilities, what we'll have is essentially a case of…hmm…Iranians bombing Iranians. We can't help but wonder whether somewhere in Teheran there's a man sitting at his office at this very moment, slamming his fist on the table, and muttering: "Damn, we should have never let that Mofaz family leave!"
Just a though.
If you’re going to drink, let someone else pray
In response to a rash of well publicized incidents, including the death of an American yeshiva student in Israel from a drug overdose, the Orthodox Union is encouraging yeshiva kids not to drink during Purim, which is coming up in a few weeks. (It is generally considered a requirement to drink heavily on that night. By the way, even for the secular in Israel, Purim is one of the year’s biggest party nights, with parties throughout the country. For kids, it's a great party time, with costumes, parties in school and kindergarten and parades. I guess they have them in America, too.).
The OU has about as much chance of stamping out Purim drinking as it does of getting rid of synagogue “kiddush clubs,” the stag drinking sessions that take place in shul back rooms during the rabbi’s sermon every Saturday. Oh, right - the OU wants to stamp those out, too. I’ll drink to that.
More evidence that life is normal in Israel
Live video of the traffic on the Ayalon Freeway, the main North-South artery that runs through metro Tel Aviv. Most of the site is in Hebrew, but you don’t have to be able to read right to left to understand what the moving pictures of non-moving cars mean. And the red line connoting traffic flows of up to 40 is in kilometers, so that means only 25 mph.
Only salsa can bring peace
The fourth annual Mediterranean Salsa Congress in Eilat in April - workshops, parties, performances, parade, DJ’s from the U.S., U.K., and Israel. The conference slogan: Promoting Peace Through Salsa.
Department of flagrant self-promotion - today, Yair Lapid
Yair Lapid, the king of all Israeli media - with a TV talk show, a miniseries, a newspaper column, regular magazine pieces, and more - joins us as a regular columnist. From us, you'll get Lapid’s funny, cracked and cynical view of bourgeois, married life in Israel. His column is sort of an Israeli Dave Barry - and since the master himself is on temporary hiatus, Yair is the best you’ve got. Currently: the real way of Israeli marriages.
