Israel Scene | BY ANDREA SIMANTOV
Holidays & Tumultuous Time
DRAWING BY PEPE FAINBERG
The Tick Tock of the Middle Eastern Clock
WE QUICKLY ADAPT TO WHATEVER UPRISING IS TOSSED INTO OUR LAPS.
A TIMEWORN JOKE in the orthodox community: A priest and a rabbi are on the first tourist-rocket to space. Reporters meeting them at Cape Canaveral after reentry note that the priest looks rested and glowing from his journey into “the Heavens.” The rabbi, however, is completely disheveled: yarmulke askew, jacket crinkled and half-off, he’s a mess. Reporters ask: “How was the journey?” to which
20 DECEMBER 2014 |
Jlife
the priest answers, “A miracle! Such splendor! A testament to the Creator of the Universe!” The rabbi screams, “What splendor? Exhausting! Tefillin on! Tefillin off! Horrible! Give me a twenty-four hour day, will you???” For observant Jews, the year moves more rapidly than for others. Because the sabbath is an anchor that moors the week, secular pursuits are always peppered