AMAZING DAY!

     Well, the old grey mare.....and you know the rest of it. Overscheduled myself today and boy do I feel it, but it is worth every aching bone in the body. Met more of the people here and cannot get over their resilience and attitudes, their optimism in the face of some bad situations.
     We actually toured the shuk, the Machane Yehuda, an open air market that is huge and has anything you want except for furniture - from soup to nuts, kitchen goods, new restaurants and a beer bazaar which features all the microbrewery beers of Israel and there are many. Our guide took us on a historical/eating tour and though I have been here so many times, this was fascinating. Not only that, but the friendliness, the same Jewish statement of "Eat, you have to try, just a little..." and from the time we left , after a two hour tour, we have been avoiding all but water. Tomorrow is time enough for food. I never knew how many varieties of food there were nor how many nations are represented here amongst the Jews. I never knew the history of the shuk. Just amazing.
     In the afternoon we rolled all the way to the Begin museum. Thank G-d there was  a delay so we could kind of sit in a stupor for a while and then wake up for the tour. Now that was great. The speeches and the life, the thoughts and the heroism, the strength of character and the look of loss in his eyes when he lost his beloved wife, Aliza, a loss he never recovered from. His devotion to his cause - the survival of the Jewish people in their homeland and living in peace - never flagged and after his death it was discovered that he wished to be buried with two Etzel heroes (his fighting force pre Israel) and he and his wife were buried with them on the Mount of Olives rather than at Har Herzl with all the other Prime Ministers.
     Among the many sayings along the walls, one particularly struck me. It stated that the land was won not by the right of might, but by the might of right. He stated that if one truly believes and works for the freedom and security of people, if one strives for peace, if one knows how valuable is the law of justice and the rule of law, of democracy, of social integrity, if one does that then it will come about even if it takes so many years. It took him 29 years of trying in Israel before he was elected Prime Minister and he achieved much after that, a man who had a hard and bitter life being imprisoned and tortured by the Soviets and having his family slaughtered so cruelly by the Nazis.
     As I read and listened and thought, I said to myself that this man was a hero. He was not perfect, but he did try and he fought for his people all his life, no matter the consequences to him. He had a deep faith in G-d, carried a Bible with him from 1942 that his wife gave to him when he finally reached Palestine.
     And he gives me faith. He gives me energy to keep on striving to see that our situation at home improves. If he could make peace with Sadat, then surely we can make peace between two opposing sides in the Village - BUT it all depends on that one side who is refusing to see the way clear to that, who keeps inciting and ranting and raving, who keeps denying volunteers to enter onto committees. It takes two to tango, so.....shall we dance, one two three, Mr. Israel. As I said before, come to the land of your name and see the truth, develop a soul, a feeling of peace, of knowing what is really important and then perhaps you will see the light. It actually is a good feeling knowing that one has done all one can for the betterment of society, not the betterment of oneself. Try it - you might like it.
     PS to Miss Mollie. We do have broadband in the Village. I have it in my own apartment. I do not need nor want anyone telling me that I have to pay for someone else and people who have no interest in it do not want to pay either. The main thing is, dearie, that it is already here and this is just a ploy for UCO to take over another Village wide category. We do not need to pay extra for what is already here and available. And for Heaven's sake, can you people not grow up already and cut out the name calling and the malcontents and any other stupidity you come up with. You sound like the presidential candidates in debates and the politicians in Congress. Not a comparison to be desired.