Now and Then

When we moved to Israel, we moved into an apartment, we got a car, we bought toys, and clothes and we fit right in fairly quickly. I just finished Iris's uncle's book about his parents life and when they talk about coming to Israel the diffrence is staggering. They spend weeks and weeks getting from Kabul to Teheran, and then they spent 6 hours on a closed cargo plane flying to Israel.

When they got her, they faced tent cities, and pasta that was shaped like rice, and frankly a life that is harder then anything I can imagine. What is so amazing is that when you look at Iris's extended family they really are just amazing people. They walk and talk and really are the real thing.

Life is a circle, and the things we are doing with books in Israel are the same thing that Iris's grandfather would have done with Cloth in Kabul. The apartment we live in Iris says feels like her grandparents house, but I must say I am not sure that I have quite the same love for oil and fat. You read about some of the things that they ate and you think wow, that is like 8,000 calories an once.

When I want the streets of Israel, I am coming to respect the short term history of this state. It has its problems, but frankly it is better then no state and it is getting better with time. Some days I am proud to say I live here.

Benjamin