Once Upon a Busy Place in Baka

Bagel Bite is a restaurant in Baka, a neighborhood that used to be home to a few thousand Arabs. Today, it's a blossoming district of Jerusalem neighboring Talpiot and the German Colony, about 40-minutes walk from the center of town, and another 15 to the Wailing Wall. It's a busy place. You'll hear excited voices at any time of the day--or night. There's always something to do here.

Even though I live in a highly contested area, you won’t hear a word of politics at Bagel Bite because it’s a mixed staff of Jewish and Palestinian workers who try to have as much fun as possible while making a living selling bagels, and an assortment of foods ranging from muffins to sushi (sushi was recently added to their already-packed menu).

I've been coming here ever since I moved from Efrat to Jerusalem a year ago. It's a nice place with friendly waiters who do their best to make you happy, leaving you wanting to hand them a big tip. I’ve made some really good friends amongst both the staff and the usual customers. Somehow, I feel this is my “home away from home.” I come to Bagel Bite whenever I have a writing assignment, or need to finish a translation project. In fact, I’m sitting here now writing this.

One of my closest friends at Bagel Bite is a young Palestinian called “Baha.” I recently helped him put together an application to a German university. Yesterday he approached me and thanked me for having performed this act of kindness towards him. And the result: he was accepted to study there! Now, it’s on to bigger and better things for my friend, Baha.

Bagel Bite allows people of different backgrounds to come together for a hearty meal. It’s a place to read a good piece of literature, sip a cup of Latte, or do some work. I’m grateful to the Bagel Bite staff for treating me like I’m one of theirs. Even though I recently started working full-time, I continue frequenting this busy place in Baka in search of the company of good people, and a refuge from all the hustle and tussle of our beautiful capital.

A Day in the Muslim Quarter

I recently had an opportunity to take a walk in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Before going there, I’d always been a little apprehensive about showing up—especially with my kippa and tzitzit (the traditional Jewish garb). It took some courage and the friendly smile of a close friend who made Aliya about a year ago to persuade me to venture out of my familiar comfort zone into a hereto unknown reality.

We entered the Old City, a place holy to the world’s three great faiths, perhaps the most hotly contested area in the world through the Yaffo Gate. I asked my friend if she was up for some coffee (the cold weather was beginning to be felt in Jerusalem). She gladly accepted my offer.

As we sat there watching passerby’s, we noticed people of a variety of backgrounds that’s difficult to spot just about anywhere else. Both of us are Russian-speakers, so I pointed out a group of Russian tourists taking in the beauty of the Old City. They spoke in the traditional jargon that I simply couldn’t resist ignoring them. It was like being back in Moscow again. Some kind of dejavu…

What I Think Bibi's Thinking (Nice Title, Ey!?)

In lue of today's events:

• Tel-Aviv bus bombing
• 2 Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon, one landing in Lebanese territory, mind you...
• An 18-year old IDF soldier killed by a Hamas mortar shell

...and more missiles landing in Israel following the "cease-fire" agreement between Bibi, Hamas, Egypt, and Hillary Clinton aka "The Witch" (feel free to replace the "W" with a "B"),

Bibi, a former Sayeret Matkal commander who's always been one of my favorite people/politicians is, in my opinion thinking the following:

1. This female guerilla (the animal type) is just too much for one Jew to handle.
2. Let's get rid of this dilemma and get on with bombing the Ayatollahs.
3. Screw the "Palestinians," screw Egypt, and keep screwing more women (no links because I still have respect for Bibi).

So those are my 2-cent's worth for this here, busy day in Israel, the only democracy in the Mil' East. Nighty night, folks and don't forget to spank your local Jihadist!

Message from Moshe Feiglin (Translated from Hebrew)

Part of an email I received from Manhigut Yehudit leader, Moshe Feiglin:

Early morning…I’m heading from Samaria to Gush Dan along the smog-filled highway. Another crazy day leading up to the Likud primaries is about to get under way.

The car phone rings. A young, confident voice from the other end: “Hi, XX speaking from ynet news.

“Hi there!”

“I’m preparing an article on donations made out to candidates in the Likud primaries, and just wanted to confirm something.”

“Yes…”

“I see that you received a donation from a woman by the name of Nitza Kahane.”

“And…”

“Is it correct that Nitza Kahane is the widow of Rabbi Kahane?

“Maybe I haven’t fully woken up yet; maybe this is the result of a lack of sleep and the amount of stress I’ve experienced lately, but the latest question raises my “politically correct” defenses.

War in Gaza...Again

Jerusalem 11/16/12: My friend who lives in the small rural town of Kiryat Malachi where I visited her a week ago, called me some time in the afternoon yesterday. I instantly noticed something was wrong. She sounded hysterical as she recounted what she’d just witnessed.

What happened in Kiryat Malachi yesterday has been taking place in Israel since the establishment of the Jewish national homeland. Three people were killed and a four members of the same family were injured as a Kassam rocket scored a direct hit on an apartment building where a Chabad family was staying.  News of the tragedy spread like wildfire as people scrambled to leave the south for places that would themselves soon become threatened by Hamas rocket fire. We were getting closer to war. Again.

What’s changed since Israel’s government pulled out of Gaza in the summer of 2005? Most Israelis agree that the situation has steadily declined and that offering Gaza to Hamas terrorists was perhaps the gravest mistake any Israeli government has ever committed.