My seamstress Haddas is a pleasant looking and rather charming woman of fifty. She was born and raised in Haifa. She comes from a family of ten siblings of Morrocan origin. She insists that her mission in life is to find me a wife. She is divorced but seems happy with her work, friends, hobbies, and most importantly her grandchildren. Emily is two years old today and Daniela is a young lady of four. I enjoy their monthly visits to Haifa. They live in Tel Aviv. Daniela refers to me as the Dod. The Hebrew word for uncle is dod דוד (aunt is doda דודה). In modern Israel, the word Dod is a term used by Israeli children to refer to all male adults whose name they can not pronounce or simply do not know. The name Earl is generally a challenge to pronounce for Israeli children and many adults. I often use my middle name of Joseph to communicate with my Israeli neighbors.
First, I will tell you about Tu B'Av our version of Valentine's Day and then share my latest quest for true love.
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According to the Talmud, Tu B'Av was a joyous holiday in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, marking the beginning of the grape harvest . Yom Kippur marked the end of the grape harvest.. On those dates, the unmarried girls of Jerusalem would dress in white garments and go out to dance in the vineyards in the hope of being spotted by an eligible suitor. Tu B'Av was never a holiday of great religious significance and during centuries of Jewish exile was rarely celebrated. In recent decades Israeli civil culture promoted festivals of singing and dancing on the night of Tu B'Av. The entertainment and beauty industries work overtime on this date. It has no formal legal status as a holiday-- it is a regular workday--nor has the Israeli rabbinate initiated any addition to the liturgy or called for the introduction of any ancient religious practices. The cultural gap between Israeli secular society and the Orthodox rabbinate makes it unlikely that these two will find a common denominator in the celebration of this ancient/modern holiday in the foreseeable future.
I did agree to meet a rather attractive female friend of Haddas, named Lena. We celebrated Israeli Valentine's Day together. Lena (not real name) is a tall dark skinned and dark haired Israeli who was born and raised in Haifa. She appears to be in my age range. Lena is retired and enjoys her three children and six grandchildren. I now appreciate the meaning of the term "comedy of errors." Yesterday was Tu B'av and my third date with Lena. Our first two encounters were at the local Japanese restaurant. We ate dinner and each of us drank one Japanese beer and chatted. Lena is a retired pharmacist but shares my two great passions. The efforts to promote peace through interfaith activities in Israel-Palestine. The second is the study of Judaism. The Jewish faith is a knowledge based way of life. Judaism puts a great deal of emphasis on the study of The Torah and Talmud. There have been great debates for three thousand years as to whether knowledge is more important or spiritual fulfillment in the Jewish faith. Both are important of course but I believe that how we practice Jewish values is far more important than the formal study. Lena and I agreed on this very important topic in Israel.
Sadly, our third encounter was not a good one. We added two more potent Japanese ales each to this dining occasion. Lena proceeded to tell me that she felt somewhat deceived by my behavior. I had told her during our first phone conversation that my grasp of Hebrew was solid. She then proceeded to critique my vocabulary, grammar, and Hebrew sentence structure at great length. "you have been here for five years and can't do better than that' Ouch!!!! I calmly thanked her for concerns and suggested a quiet walk at our local park. She agreed and grudgingly admitted that she may have been a bit harsh about my lingual progress.
According to the Talmud, Tu B'Av was a joyous holiday in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, marking the beginning of the grape harvest . Yom Kippur marked the end of the grape harvest.. On those dates, the unmarried girls of Jerusalem would dress in white garments and go out to dance in the vineyards in the hope of being spotted by an eligible suitor. Tu B'Av was never a holiday of great religious significance and during centuries of Jewish exile was rarely celebrated. In recent decades Israeli civil culture promoted festivals of singing and dancing on the night of Tu B'Av. The entertainment and beauty industries work overtime on this date. It has no formal legal status as a holiday-- it is a regular workday--nor has the Israeli rabbinate initiated any addition to the liturgy or called for the introduction of any ancient religious practices. The cultural gap between Israeli secular society and the Orthodox rabbinate makes it unlikely that these two will find a common denominator in the celebration of this ancient/modern holiday in the foreseeable future.
I did agree to meet a rather attractive female friend of Haddas, named Lena. We celebrated Israeli Valentine's Day together. Lena (not real name) is a tall dark skinned and dark haired Israeli who was born and raised in Haifa. She appears to be in my age range. Lena is retired and enjoys her three children and six grandchildren. I now appreciate the meaning of the term "comedy of errors." Yesterday was Tu B'av and my third date with Lena. Our first two encounters were at the local Japanese restaurant. We ate dinner and each of us drank one Japanese beer and chatted. Lena is a retired pharmacist but shares my two great passions. The efforts to promote peace through interfaith activities in Israel-Palestine. The second is the study of Judaism. The Jewish faith is a knowledge based way of life. Judaism puts a great deal of emphasis on the study of The Torah and Talmud. There have been great debates for three thousand years as to whether knowledge is more important or spiritual fulfillment in the Jewish faith. Both are important of course but I believe that how we practice Jewish values is far more important than the formal study. Lena and I agreed on this very important topic in Israel.
Sadly, our third encounter was not a good one. We added two more potent Japanese ales each to this dining occasion. Lena proceeded to tell me that she felt somewhat deceived by my behavior. I had told her during our first phone conversation that my grasp of Hebrew was solid. She then proceeded to critique my vocabulary, grammar, and Hebrew sentence structure at great length. "you have been here for five years and can't do better than that' Ouch!!!! I calmly thanked her for concerns and suggested a quiet walk at our local park. She agreed and grudgingly admitted that she may have been a bit harsh about my lingual progress.
Like most Israelis, Lena carries her cell phone with her everywhere and always. Her cell phone rang; she answered it and gasped, as the person calling was trying to reach Lena's mother. "I was visiting my mom this afternoon and we must have switched phones by mistake". She pleaded with me to make the forty minute trip to her mom's home to switch phones. We took the bus to her mom's home, I was asked to wait outside as "It will just take a minute" It took thirty minutes in the 95 degree and 90 percent humidity summer evening. Moms still come first; therefore, I just smiled and we boarded the return bus to our own neighborhood. Lena surprised me by taking me and kissing me with some degree of passion while we walked to our seats. Yes, the bus lurched and we fell on our tachats (tucheses). Every body on the bus laughed including me with the exception of Lena. We arrived at our stop and as we walked away from the bus stop, Lena quickly and sternly bid farewell with a terse "don't call me, I will call you" ouch again!
I stopped by the next morning to say hello to Hadas, She looked at me and sternly told me that there is no hope for my romantic future. There is a happy ending to the story. Emily and Daniela were visiting the store at the time. Yes they love "The Dod" What greater joy is there in life than sharing precious moments with youngsters. I walked home passing by the Japanese restaurant and stopped to say hello to their greeter, Natasha. She is a twenty five year old immigrant from Russia and my buddy. I told her about my experience with Lena. "I didn't like her anyway" added Natasha. She did have a nice Jewish woman for me named Natalie. Natalie is a different story and for another time.
I stopped by the next morning to say hello to Hadas, She looked at me and sternly told me that there is no hope for my romantic future. There is a happy ending to the story. Emily and Daniela were visiting the store at the time. Yes they love "The Dod" What greater joy is there in life than sharing precious moments with youngsters. I walked home passing by the Japanese restaurant and stopped to say hello to their greeter, Natasha. She is a twenty five year old immigrant from Russia and my buddy. I told her about my experience with Lena. "I didn't like her anyway" added Natasha. She did have a nice Jewish woman for me named Natalie. Natalie is a different story and for another time.
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