Life in Mitzpe Ramon

The Milky Way Trail in Mitzpe Ramon

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 12:33:00 +0000

I want to make people aware of a little-known, new special attraction in Mitzpe Ramon. I’ve lived here almost 10 years and didn’t discover it until last night.

There is a new paved, serpentine trail that leads from the KKL forest at the entrance to town to the edge of the Machtesh. It’s roughly 1/4 mile long. What’s special is that it’s paved with iridescent stones that glow in the dark. It’s like walking down the Milky Way to the crater’s edge. At the end there’s a surprise ( I won’t spoil it by telling you) and a great view of the Machtesh below. This effect is obviously only visible in the dark, but it looks like a nice walk in the day time. Benches and explanations posted along the way. You don’t need a flashlight but useful if you want to look around.

This would be a great jaunt on the way to Eilat or a must experience if you’re staying in Mitzpe Ramon. Truly a wonder. Handicap accessible and strollers and carriages can be pushed on the somewhat pebbly surface.

The Milky Way Trail at night.

The start of the Milky Way Trail is at the entrance to the Sculpture Garden near the KKL Forest at the entrance to Mitzpe Ramon. The red pin is the start of the trail.

Massive Sand Storm Descends on Middle East

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 09:26:00 +0000

Satellite Photo of ME Sand Storm

Mitzpe Ramon in the Sand Storm

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-shrouded-in-dense-sandstorm/

Sofers in Tights

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Thu, 30 May 2013 00:59:00 +0000

What is the oldest Sefer Torah in the world? A recent article in the Jewish Forwards says that the oldest Torah scroll was recently discovered in a library in Bologna, Italy, where it had been mislabeled as wrtitten in the 17th century. Recent analysis redated it to the 12th century.

Is this the oldest Torah scroll? From a library in Bologna, claimed to be written in the 12th century.

If you've been to the ancient synagogues in Sefad you may recall being shown Torah scrolls that are even older (at least so I recall.) Recently we spent Shavuot in the Old City of Jerusalem. After the holiday I was exploring and stumbled on the Karaite Synagogue in the Old City, which lays claim to being the oldest synagogue in that oldest of cities. Inside I was shown an even older Torah scroll that the guide, the Karaite Rabbi of the synagogue, said was written in the 7th century, making it 500 years older than the one in the Bologna library.

Is this the oldest Torah scroll in the world? Claimed as written in the 7th century and found in the Karaite Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is written on deer skin parchment.

I took the photo above of this Karaite Torah scroll. It was opened to the parsha of the Ten Commandments, read on the just ended holiday of Shavuot. The rabbi told me that this Torah was only taken out for dancing on Simchat Torah once a year and that it was written on deer skin. Indeed it had the soft look of very fine, worn deer skin gloves, not the stiff look of cow hide that most Torah parchment is made from.

But where would deer skin have come from in 7th century Jerusalem? Deer are not native to the Middle East. At least I don't think they are. Did some sofer in tights travel to Sherwood Forest, where joining Good King Axelrad the Vth and his band of Merry Men, capture a live deer, shecht it, and bring its hide back to Jerusalem to be used in making ritual scrolls? A mystery, no?

And why are there so few ancient Torah scrolls? The Torah dates back 3300 years. It is written on durable animal skin with special black ink. They are treasured as the word of G-d and kept in arks. Why would one ever perish, except in the ravages of anti-semitic mayhem over the millenia? But still, many more should have survived than perished. What became of them?

Another mystery, no?

Related articles

Paragliding over Machtesh Ramon

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Tue, 28 May 2013 12:13:00 +0000

This is not something I would do myself, but I love to watch the beauty of the paragliders as they run full tilt toward the edge of the crater and then glide smoothly into the sky as they jump off the edge. Paragliding is just one of many activities you can enjoy in Mitzpe Ramon.

Paragliders over Machtesh Ramon Crater

Bedouin Goat Crossing

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Tue, 28 May 2013 11:51:00 +0000

On the way home to Mitzpe Ramon we sometimes encounter Bedouin shepherds and shepherdesses herding their flocks across Route 40. This is a pair of shepherdesses completely covered head to toe in the gloaming of a hot day.

A pair of Bedouin shepherdesses lead their flock across Route 40 on a hot day.

And...We're Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Tue, 28 May 2013 11:07:00 +0000

Hard to believe it's been almost two years since our last post. You may think our absence had something to do with Spot The Dog's death, but no so. It's just hard to write something intelligent, funny, and insightful every day. So, instead, we'll let the photos speak for themselves. After all, this says it's a "PHOTOBLOG"! :) So, on with the show. Today we share with you our photo of a Bedouin donkey seen in downtown Mitzpe Ramon yesterday. Enjoy, and come back for more.

Bedouin donkey, downtown Mitzpe Ramon

Spot the Dog Passes Away

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:07:00 +0000

While we are on the subject of sad news, I should report that Spot the Dog has passed away. He was known by many other names, too numerous to mention here, but his favorite was perhaps "The Dog Formerly Known as Spot". He was 14 1/2 years old.

He came down with Lymphoma last Rosh Hashannah, and his vet, Dr. Marganite, was able to keep him alive for almost a year. He got chemotherapy at the animal hospital in Beer-Sheva, which was effective as long as he was on it, but then relapsed a couple of months after it stopped. He passed away, or was "put to sleep" as the saying goes, on the 17th of Tamuz, the middle of July, a fast day on the Jewish calendar, after he had stopped eating and drinking. He finally lost the energy to stand.

Spot the Dog's final photo. Too weak to stand, he still puts on a good face at the vet's.

We took him to Dr. Marganite who examined him and agreed with us that his time had come. She told us to say good bye, and she said that this made everyone sad but she would not cry to stay professional, but then we all started to cry. She took Spot away and then a short time later I heard the squeeky wheels of the gurney and knew his end had come. They put him in a plastic sack and wrapped him in the sheet we had brought, after which he was put in a cardboard box which was taped shut. We wheeled him out to the car and placed him in the back seat and drove home to Mitzpe Ramon.

We decided to bury him in the JNF forest near the Machtesh, just below the Wise Observatory where I do my star tours every night. Yishbot, one of the Black Hebrews, dug his grave under a tree at the least used edge of the forest. Our friend Chaim helped us bring him up and bury him. We placed his old sleeping sheepskin in the grave and then placed him in his box on top. Pam almost lost her purse in the grave since we hadn't realized she had put it on the sheepskin in the car. Fortunately, we found it before the dirt started flying. Otherwise, Spot would have had quite a Pharonic burial.

Spot is placed on his sheepskin in his little grave above Mitzpe Ramon

Chaim helps us bury Spot in the JNF forest.

After we finished covering his grave with dirt I put large rocks on it, as Dr. Marganite suggested, to keep the wild animals from digging him up.

Spot's grave site in the JNF forest above Mitzpe Ramon

Every time we visit I add a large rock to the pile to protect him. It is also a Jewish custom to leave a rock of remembrance on a grave at every visit. The pile has gotten very big.

Spot's rock pile on his grave site.

We miss Spot every day, but as Yair, our grandson said, "I miss Spot, but it makes me happy when I remember him." What better could be said about a dog? We miss you and remember you, buddy.

Tragedy on the Machtesh

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:30:00 +0000

It has been a while since we have written about life in Mitzpe Ramon. We were in the US for about a month, and then alot of our time has gone into setting up our astronomy night time tours and posting on astronomyisrael.com. So, it is with sadness that we return to write about tragedy on the Machtesh and in the Negev area. This is especially so during the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur.

On Monday, a man of unknown identity in his late 30s or early 40s jumped to his death from the Bird's Nest Overlook at the end of our street. This is a dramatic parapet that juts out from the edge of the Machtesh with views for miles out and around the crater. The drop looks to be about 500 feet to the bottom. Every year such suicide tragedies and other deaths occur here. Most recently a teen-age girl and her friend from Tel Aviv had been drinking and were dancing at the edge of the Machtesh. She fell to her death. Or so the story goes, which would make a great line for a mystery. Ush, such goyishe kups!

(These photos by Albert Bitton and Lital Solomon of Mitzpe Ramon are used with permission.)

Seen here is Yoash Limon, of the Green Backpackers, being lowered to the jumper in Mitzpe Ramon. Above is the Bird's Nest Parapet, overlooking Machtesh Ramon, from which he jumped to his death.

Yoash secures the body to a gurney.

Lifting the gurney.

Many emergency personnel and onlookers wait above.

Then yesterday, two other deaths were reported in the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea. An 18 year old American boy touring the area fell to his death from a height. Later that day in the same area, a 50 year old Russian man had been leaning against a boulder which shifted when he released his hold and rolled over him, crushing him to death.

Such things are not supposed to happen and remind us of the most powerful part of the Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur service after the Nesaneh Tokef, "Who shall live and who shall die...who by fire...who by drowning...who by stoning... We don't stone people anymore, well not outside of Islamic countries anyway, but in biblical times stoning was carried out by pushing the condemned off a high place. And the scape goat, the Goat for Azazel that was to die for the sins of the community on Yom Kippur, was pushed to its death from a great height after the crimson string between its horns was cut.

We spent Rosh Hashannah at the new Aish Kodesh (Holy Fire) shul in Ramat Bet Shemesh. It is a large three story stone building made of marble and Jerusalem stone. I grew up in a shul with a chazan and men's choir of unparalleled power. So, it's unusual for me to hear anything cantorial that moves me during the High Holiday davening. But in the shul, during the "Mi Yichyeh of The Nesaneh Tokef" (Who shall live and who die...) the chazan sang a line over the chorus of the kahal (community) that sounded like the drowning voice of the tempest-tossed over the storm of Fate, a chilling effect I had never heard before and will never forget.

May the Tempest Tossed find rest, and we should hear only good news from now on. Baruch Dayan Emet.

The Back Packs Come to Israel

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:56:00 +0000

I've been walking around a number of Israeli stores, and all I see for sale are back packs. Back packs everywhere you look. This must be in preparation for back to school. But, honestly, how many back packs can one small country use? I was walking in a mall called "Big" in Beer-Sheva, and in addition to every store being cram-jammed filled with back packs, I encounter a whole tunnel of them outside. Like the tunnel of love, but not...

Tunnel of back packs

770 Comes To Mitzpe Ramon

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:31:00 +0000

770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn is the World Headquarters of the Lubavitch Chasidim. It is where the Lubavitcher Rebbe's offices and shul were and where he would receive his chasidim and visitors from around the world. I remember standing in the long lines there waiting to speak with the Rebbe, ask his advice, and receive a dollar from him to give to tzdakah (charity). It remains the world headquarters of the movement and is as well known and famous to many Jews as the Capitol or Whitehouse in America.

770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn NY

Because of its fame, it has sometimes been reproduced as the facade of Chabad Houses elsewhere, although the best known one, until now, has been Kfar Chabad in Israel. Now, Mitzpe Ramon will soon be able to boast its own reproduction of 770 Eastern Parkway, as the new Chabad House here is nearing completion after some years of building and remodeling. The new Chabad House in Mitzpe Ramon can house upwards of 60 people, and is the location of seminars, symposia and shabaton's for many different groups of Jews from all over Israel. Seen below is the Chabad shaliach in Mitzpe Ramon, Rabbi Tzvi Slonim, as he stands in the doorway of Mitzpe Ramon's own "770". Kal Hakovod and Mazel Tov to Rabbi Slonim on this remarkable accomplishment. Let's wish him well in his endeavors to finish raising the money to pay for it!

Mitzpe Ramon's own replica of 770 Eastern Parkway with Rabbi Slonim standing in the doorway.

Update July 21, 2011

The windows of the new "770" Chabad House in Mitzpe Ramon were completed today, and the scaffolding taken down. Getting closer and closer to completion:

Mitzpe Ramon's "770" Chabad House got closer to completion today as the window treatments were completed and the scaffolding taken down. Mazel Tov to Rabbi Slonim and the whole community!

The Ambassador Comes to Mitzpe Ramon

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:31:00 +0000

http://www.astronomyisrael.com/2011/04/ambassador-comes-to-mitzpe-ramon.html

Celebrating Yud Shevat in Mitzpe Ramon

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 16:13:00 +0000

Image via WikipediaYud Shevat, this past Shabbat, is the date of the Yahrzeit of the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe and the date that the 7th Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Shneerson (z"tzal), became Rebbe. It is celebrated with a big Fahrbrigen among the Chasidim. When The Rebbe was alive, chasidim, shlichim, friends, hangers-on, people from all over the world would come to Crown Heights to celebrate with the Rebbe. Over 10,000 people would all crowd into 770 Eastern Parkway, Lubavitch World Headquarters in Crown Heights, to see and hear the Rebbe. Students would stand against the walls and climb on each others shoulders, three high, to be present in the room with the Rebbe. Polite fights would break out among those who had arrived early to chain up the seats on a bench to "reserve" it, only to return and find others had done the same, making it impossible to use the bench without negotiation.

When the Rebbe came into the room, the sea of people would part like the Yam Suf, so the Rebbe could walk past. Then the Rebbe would speak, hand out mashke, and acknowledge his Chasidim from all over the world. The scene was uproarious but decorous.

Happy is the eye that saw it and the ear that heard it. Alas, this scene is no more since the Rebbe passed away. But his work continues on even stronger through the shlichim (emissaries) the Rebbe sent out to literally the four corners of the world to work with Jews and bring them back to their Jewish roots. The Rebbe wrote in a ma'amer (chasidic discourse) that the reason we are happy and celebrate on the yahrzeit (anniversary of the death) of someone, is because the effect of all their good deeds is felt all at once on that one day. How much more so a Tzadik like the Lubavitche Rebbe, the Gadol Ha'dor (pre-eminent of his generation), who changed the Jewish world through his actions throughout his life.

We had our own little celebration at a Fahrbringen in Mitzpe Ramon with Rabbi Slonim and Reb Tal, his assistant.

Reb Tal, right.

Rabbi Slonim, with his son.

Our own Fahrbringen in Mitzpe Ramon on Yud Shevat

May we all be strengthened in our Yiddishkeit and commitment to the values the Rebbe taught through the merit of his works.

Brutus Finds a Home

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:17:00 +0000

There are many homeless dogs in Mitzpe Ramon. Some are dumped here by uncaring owners, some beautiful animals, some mutts, all homeless, all looking for food and water. Mitzpe Ramon has no animal control officer or facilities to keep them. They wander the streets looking for handouts, eating garbage. When winter comes, most die of exposure. It's heartbreaking how people can be so cruel to their pets.

One homeless animal that kept coming around our apartment was a dog we called Brutus. He was huge, with giant paws and long legs who could cover a mile in a single stride, even with a game leg. He was a gentle giant. He would come up behind you and nuzzle your hand, never putting it in his mouth. We felt sorry for him and fed and watered him whenever he came around, despite my policy of not feeding homeless animals.

The other day Pam saw Brutus with a collar and leash in the company of people she had never seen before. It turns out they had returned to Mitzpe Ramon after a year abroad. Brutus was their pet who had run away from a family in whose charge they left him shortly after they left Israel. Hooray - Brutus had a home and family.

It turns out that Brutus was actually "Swift", so called because he liked to chew books as a puppy, and the first book he ate was Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels". It was a good name for a dog who could run so fast.

Brutus, aka "Swift", no longer homeless.

Kodachrome: 1935-2010 RIP

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:15:00 +0000

Image via WikipediaToday, Thursday December 30, 2010, the last roll of Kodachrome film will come off the processing machine at Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kansas, marking the end of the longest running color film in history. Kodachrome wasn't just any color film, it was the color transparency film of choice, making slides of incredible color and sharpness that were projected larger than life on screens all over the world for most of the 20th century. National Geographic would never have been National Geographic without this film.

It was my favorite color film for almost 20 years, until I stopped shooting film altogether in favor of digital. Digital was never better, but it was far more convenient. I remember when we moved to Palo Alto, CA in 1984 there was a Kodak film processing lab on Oregon Expressway just a mile from my house. I used to stop in on my way to work to drop off my Kodachrome slides to be developed. I was one of the lucky few who had a Kodachrome processing lab around the corner from my house. The old guys there would talk about film with reverence, all of us oblivious to the digital revolution that would blow film away in just 20 years. I used to experiment with getting the saturation of colors as deep as possible by decreasing the exposure 1/3rd stop in numerous increments. I will never forget the series of slides I took of a red fire hydrant in a California sunset in which the color just gets deeper and deeper as the exposure decreased until it was too low and the film blocked up. That last hydrant was a breathtaking, blazing red.

One thing I will never fully comprehend about this most popular color film of all time is its seemingly impossible origins: it was invented by two Jewish polymaths, Leopold Mannes and Leopold Godowsky, Jr., who would go on to distinguished careers as American classical musicians, Mannes after studying physics at Harvard and who would become the head of the Mannes Institue of Music, founded by his parents. They invented it in their bathroom after studying color chemistry for many years on their own.

Thank G-d for the Jews.

We Take Our Driving Tests

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 01:48:00 +0000

After taking two driving "unlearning" lessons we have been deemed fit to take our driving tests. For this a tester comes from Beer-Sheva to drive around with us and test our driving abilities. So, you can get a driver's license in Israel after driving and being tested on the streets of Mitzpe Ramon only, a town without a single traffic light, and then drive anywhere in Israel. Ok. The driving test also does not require that you park the car or drive in reverse. No doubt this is why backing up is the single most dangerous thing you can do in a car in Israel.

Pam takes her test with a teenage girl who is being re-tested after failing her first test. This is after 40 driving lessons, the usual number for a beginning driver. Apparently the tester yelled at the teenager about something, and after the test she is deathly afraid she has failed again. Three strikes and you have to take 40 more driving lessons. This is why they no longer tell you immediately if you have passed or failed the test. People used to pull guns and knives on the testers if they failed the test. I would, too, if I had to take another 40 driving lessons. Pam says she thought the girl drove fine, and didn't see any problems. As it turned out later, the teenager failed. Go know.

My test, like Pam's, was perfunctory. After all, I've been driving for twice the number of years that the tester has been alive. However, I consider it a singular achievement that I got him to tell me to drive faster. That after the driving instructor told me I have a lead foot.

Later that day Chavie was coming back from the market near the Cafeneto and she tells me, Guess what, you passed your driving test and so did Mommy. How did she know? Apparently, the tester had coffee at the 'Neto after he finished testing people and Oren, the manager, asked him if we passed. So, when I got home and Pam said Guess what? I said, We passed our driving tests. She was amazed that I already knew.

Such is life in Mitzpe Ramon.

Happy Trails to you. (Click for full size.)

Fighting Lymphoma - An Update on Spot the Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 01:31:00 +0000

Ever since his diagnosis of lymphoma in September, Spot the Dog has been going to the Be'er-Sheva Animal Hospital for chemotherapy. He is on the multi-drug protocol where his initial treatment was a different drug weekly for 8 weeks, followed by biweekly treatments for six months. He also takes prednisone daily with his lunch of challah and dog food.

His appetite, always big, has become huge and he eats enough table food at each meal for a healthy adult and then consumes 3-4 cups of dog food per day on top of that! So, I finally found a way to get Spot's vet to stop making me feel guilty about over feeding him and his over weight problem.

"Ok," says Dr. Marganit, "I'm not going to fight with you over a dying dog." :)

Fortunately he has not had any serious side effects from his treatments, no nausea or vomiting. His body hair has gotten a bit thin and the hair over his rump isn't growing back well since his haircut in October, but other than that his side effects appear minimal.

For his chemotherapy a small catheter is inserted into a vein in his leg into which his medecine is injected. His biggest problem is that he has old veins which are very small and hard to use, so sometimes he has to get punctured in each leg during a treatment to find a vein that will work. Dr. Marganit, his great vet, has to use a needle made for a kitten, his veins are so small! But she always manages to make it work.

Dr. Marganit and team prepare Spot the Dog for his chemotherapy. (Click for full size image.)

When he was first diagnosed he was very sick, sleeping all the day, high fever, anemia. Since his treatment began, his blood work is back to normal, although there are still nasties circulating in it. Now he is more like his old self, although he refuses to go on walks. He was even frolicking a bit the other day. He still sleeps alot, but now he is much more alert and engaged, especially at meal time. He doesn't like to be touched and petted much any more, and Donny is the only person he will let do that.

Yair is still on the outs with Spot, and sometimes when he doesn't think we're looking, he will try to give him a kick. Spot just moves away. Spot's external lymph nodes were very swollen when he first began his therapy, and now all but one have returned to normal. But just this week, that remaining swollen gland has shrunk alot, so we are quite encouraged by his response to his treatment.

Spot the Dog says "Arf" to all of his friends who send wishes for good health and a speedy recovery.

Driver's Unlearning Lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 03:09:00 +0000

Having conquered the Israeli bureaucracy and gotten all of our paper work in order, we were now in a position to take our driving lessons before taking our driving test to get our Israeli driver's license. Or I should call them diver's unlearning lesson. This where you unlearn all of the (bad?) driving habits you developed over 45+ years of driving and learn to drive like an 18 year old teenager from Pasadena.

I remember a conversation with a Russian guard at the Ace hardware store in Beer-Sheva, where he confided in us that he was taking driving lessons. How many have you had, I asked. 40, he answered! Whoa. With all these driving lessons you'd think Israelis would be pretty good drivers. And of course they're not. Russians with driver's licenses from the former Soviet Union are regraded with special skepticism, apparently because Russians bought their licenses from corrupt government officials and never really learned to drive. I suppose NATO never had anything to fear from all those tanks pointed at Western Europe because the drivers never could have gotten them there.

In any case, one of the main things that driver ed emphasizes is using your blinker for even the slightest maneuver. This is especially ironic because if there's one thing Israeli drivers never use it is the turn signal on their car. You can be standing at an intersection with a baby carriage and the car turing will no more give you a signal than Israel will ever give the Palis an inch of Jerusalem. This must just be Jewish stiff-neckedness as a challenge to the constant badgering of their driving instructor to use that signal.

Our driving instructor is Iris, and she is very nice. Apparently we are a shoe-in to pass our test after just two lessons each! Now here's something different - in Israel the tester comes to you to give you your test. This means that you can get a driver's license if you know how to drive in Mitzpe Ramon, a town without a single traffic signal, and you can then drive in Tel Aviv, a town with worse traffic than Manhattan. Go figure. See you on the road, and don't wait for me to signal a turn.

Pam behind the wheel with her driving instructor Iris next to her. Every learner's car has that "Lamed" on top to warn everyone that a student driver is behind the wheel. What does it stand for? Lumox? Lamdan (Learner)? Probably that.

As Cold as a Two Sweater Dog in Mitzpe Ramon

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:47:00 +0000

It was cold enough on Monday, after the weekend's fierce dust storm, for Goldie to dress in her two pullovers. It may not have been as cold as a three dog night, but it was as cold as a two sweater dog.

Dressed for the cold, Goldie wears her two pullovers and still needs to sit in Chaim's lap to stay warm.

When All Else Fails, Call in the Screaming Men

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 23:28:00 +0000

I woke up this morning to no water in the apartment. In fact no one had any water in our apartment building. It turns out that a big leak had sprung up in the building's water main, and the city had come by to shut off the water. Expecting them to return any minute to fix it, we waited.

When no returned for several hours we knew we were going to be in another finger pointing episode with the city and the Amidar over whose responsibility it was to fix it. The Amidar is like Israel's Section 8 Housing Authority. They own two of the apartments in our building; the rest are privately owned. So, when anything goes wrong in the building, the city says it's Amidar's responsibility to fix it and the Amidar says its the city's responsibility to fix it. That way it works out perfectly for everyone, except the aggrieved parties, because it's nobody's responsibility to fix it.

Only this time, it was going to be more complicated because it turns out that the leak was after the building's water meter, which meant it was the responsibility of the Amidar AND the apartment owners to repair, not the city. In any case, there ensued a round robin of finger pointing via the telephone between the Amidar, the city, and us over who was going to fix the broken pipe. Of course, we knew nothing about fixing the pipe or about getting a contractor (the dreaded "kablan", in Hebrew), which the Amidar insisted we do.

I hitch a ride to town in Gavriel's electric cart to confront the powers that be. (Imaginary music playing is the Wicked Witch of the East's theme from "The Wizard of Oz".)

Taking matters into our own hands three of us men - Gavriel, a Black Hebrew, the Old Russian Guy Upstairs, and me, the Amerikai - went storming over to City Hall (if you can call it that in Mitzpe Ramon) to deal mano-a-mano with the powers that be. We went into the Mayor's office where a secretary of obvious importance, and known to Gavriel, listened sympathetically to out tale.

So, she gets on the phone and calls Chava at Amidar, and the finger pointing starts again. Now a very well dressed woman in form-fitting blue jeans and designer leather jacket walks in and hears our tale of woe, which now includes how many children and babies live in the building, who will have no water. This really stirs the sympathies of all and with one phone call she orders the city water workers into action after saying they will work out the billing later, which is what we had been asking them to do all along.

The lady in the form-fitting jeans was the Mayor's assistant, as Gavriel told me latter, and she had cut the Gordian Knot of bureaucratic finger pointing with her phone call. This is called "protexia" in Israel, and is what you need to get anything done. The screaming doesn't help at all.

By the time we returned to the building, the water crew was already at work, giving the lie to the other bureaucratic commonplace, "It's too late in the day to find anyone to do the work." When the secretary told us this, the Old Russian Man just put his foot down and said, "We need water today," and refused to budge until assent was given. PROTEXIA!

The back hoe digs in delicately. (Click for full size.)

The leak is found at the coupling. All of this while the worst dust storm of the year was blowing, working in water with bare hands at freezing wind chill. Thank you!

Fixing the broken water main. A three man crew of Russians who knew all of the Russians in our apartment building did the work.

Let there be water! And there was water.

Dust Storm Ends the Drought - For Now

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 21:41:00 +0000

A dust storm swept into Mitzpe Ramon on Saturday, bringing rain and snow to the Israeli heartland and mountains. This ended the drought we had been suffering from that began in September.

There was no rain in Mitzpe Ramon, but plenty of dust. We swept the floor of our apartment building entrance three times in two days before I took this picture this afternoon:

Look what the wind blew in! (Click for full size image.)

As of Sunday, December 12 at 1:30PM the weather was cold and getting colder; the wind was strong and getting stronger:

Temp: 45 F

Wind Chill: 35 F

Avg. Winds: 20 MPH

Gusts: 34 MPH

On the way to town, I captured this view of the storm and howling wind.

The storm was forecast to begin dissipating on Monday around noon.

"If all else fails, try crying."

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 00:34:00 +0000

This has to be the best advice we got from our Nefesh b'Nefesh advisor: "We're all one big family, and we hate to see each other in pain," she said. This was her final word on how to handle the infamous Israeli Bureaucracy.

So last Thursday we were at the Israeli DMV in Beer-Sheva to finally get our application for our Israeli driver's licenses. No, wait it's more complicated than that...but you knew that already.

Why do we even want an Israeli driver's license? We already have New Jersey driver's licenses that serve us perfectly well. So, it's like this: you can't buy a car in Israel without an Israeli driver's license. Why is this? Like all unfathomable bureaucratic rules it goes back to the Russians. Before the influx of over a million Russian Olim in the '90s and '00s, you didn't need an Israeli drivers license to buy a car. Somehow the Russians, ever expert at exploiting the bureaucracy, managed to buy cars without any license at all, a loop hole the government was only too happy to plug with more bureaucracy.

Ok, so now we need a driver's license. To begin this process you need an application. You get this application at the optometry shop (not where you were thinking, was it?), where you also must get an eye exam to certify that you can see. (Perhaps there were many blind Russians buying cars, but who knows.) The eye exam is very perfuctory, but it is performed by a certified optometrist (usually Russian), who duly fills out, signs and stamps the form. The form itself is provided by the optometry shop, printed on security paper with your photo embossed thereon. All very official looking. Now, you can't go to any old optometrist shop to do this. Apparently there is a chain of optometry shops, at least in Beer-Sheva, that has a monopoly on this market. I can't remember the name, but that's where you must go.

Now, you must take the form to the local Cupat Cholim (your medical HMO), where you will leave the form over night so your physician can check off a few dozen boxes certifying that you are healthy enough to drive. There is a charge for this service, but oh wait, they forgot to mention when you dropped off your form that the first time is free, so no charge for us! Your family physician then signs and stamps his signature with his official government seal. (Hold this thought.)

So, now and only now, you can, as a previously licensed driver and new Oleh, take a single driving lesson that will allow you to just take the driver's, and not the written portion, of the state driving test. No wait, you can't do that yet. It turns out that now you must take your form to the DMV where they must fill out, sign and stamp their portion of the form that certifies that you, as new Oleh with a valid driver's license, are exempt from taking the written portion of the driving test.

This brings us to last Thursday, where we were waiting for our number 137 to be called, while they were at number 48 when we walked in.

We wait for our number 137 to be called.

Ninety minutes later our number is called, and we hustle up to the window where the clerk tells us that she will not be able to sign the form since our doctor forgot to stamp his signature with his official government seal. (Remember that thought I told you to hold in your mind?)

At this point I start screaming, being a charter member of the "When all else fails, scream at them" school. Pam, remembering the advice of our Nefesh b'Nefesh advisor, starts crying and begging, "Please, please there must be something you can do to help us." Visibly moved, the clerk behind the counter starts asking, "Why are you crying, why are you crying." She agrees to let us talk to her supervisor.

A surprisingly short time later we are talking to the supervisor who flatly says there is nothing she can do for us, the law is the law. I, of course, start screaming at her, taking her photo to post on the "Bureaucrats Wall of Shame" here, while Pam starts crying and blubbering explaining how hard it is for us to get to Beer-Sheva, how far we must come from Mizpe Ramon, please help us, yadayadayada. "Why are you crying, why are you crying?" the supervisor asks. She leaves the room and comes back in a few moments. "Ok, we have a compromise. We will fill out the form so you can take the driver's lesson and driver's test, you will get your doctor to stamp his signature, and when your driving instructor brings it in, we will put the official stamp on it."

Yeah!

We still have not taken our driving lesson and test, so we still have no driver's license. But it is scheduled for tomorrow. Slowly, slowly, step by step, inch by inch, the redemption comes.

As we left the DMV office Pam said, I remembered what our Nefesh b'Nefesh advisor said, 'When all else fails, try crying.' And it worked. 'We are all one family and we hate to see each other in pain.'

What happened to the posts?

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:35:00 +0000

I blame Pam for this. Never teach your wife about "The Facebook", if you only have one computer at home. She has been monopolizing it for 2 months. Well...not entirely. I've been spending alot of time posting at our sister site www.astronomyisrael.com, which deals with many of my adventures starting my astronomy tour business and happenings in the sky around Mitzpe Ramon. Give it a try. It's not as daunting as it sounds. :)

The Bedouin Stole our Sukkahs!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 16:16:00 +0000

First our Internet; then our balls; then our balloons; now our sukkahs! The Hesder Yeshiva in Mitzpe Ramon runs a sukkah gemach where individuals can come and borrow a sukkah for the holiday. Since many people live in apartments, like us, there is no room to store a sukkah from year-to-year, so this is a great service.

So, where does the gemach store its sukkahs? In a shed in the industrial part of town which they share with some Bedouin. Can you see where this is going? When the gemach went to look for its sukkahs this year, they were all gone -- metal frames, plastic siding, bamboo schach and all. Absconded with by the Jawas. They had to buy all new sukkahs. At least we have a really nice one this year. :-)

Living with Lymphoma - a Guest Post by Spot the Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 23:55:00 +0000

On Erev Rosh Hashanah it was suspected, and just before Erev Yom Kippur it was confirmed - I have lymphoma. Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymph nodes. Untreated it usually results in death in dogs within two months. With chemotherapy, I could live another 12-18 months.

I went to Dr. Marganit at the Beer-Sheva Animal Hospital, feeling very sick. I had been sleeping most of the day for almost a month, lost my appetite, and as it turned out had a high fever. She found that my eyes had started to get cataracts, and my lymph nodes were terribly swollen all over my body. She said that the inflammation from fighting the disease can give dogs cataracts, and all my symptoms were classic for lymphoma. She took needle biopsies of my lymph nodes and sent them off to the pathologist. She confirmed the diagnosis.

There was alot of crying in the vet's office and at home afterward. But I don't hold any truck with such sentimentality and move away from the crying people as soon as I can. One of my favorite movies is The Barefoot Contessa, and I have adopted Maria Vargas' (Ava Gardner) family motto as my own: "Que sera, sera." "Whatever will be, will be." Stoicism befits a dog's life.

There is chemotherapy available to prolong the life of a dog with lymphoma. Now don't mock. I know that almost every treatment available for humans is available for a dog, from brain surgery to ligament surgery. Heck, I just had my gall bladder removed a few months ago. But a fatal disease, that is a different matter. Dog chemo is just meant to comfortably prolong the life of a dog. It doesn't aim for remission. That would make me too sick, and I do know that in the Great Chain of Being I am just an instrumentality, a means to an end, not an end-in-itself, having the dignity of man, as my favorite philosopher Immanuel Kant put it. It would not do to make me terribly sick to seek a cure.

But I do have a certain animal dignity, and the Torah prohibits causing T'sar Ba'alei Chaim, unnecessary pain to living creatures. But there is an expense to chemo, although much less in Israel than in the US, and a commitment to a long round trip from Mitzpe Ramon to Beer-Sheva every week for many weeks. And the chance of side-effects.

I knew these thoughts were going through master's mind. Would he be keeping me alive selfishly for himself, or would it also benefit me? Or perhaps he just wants to be done with an old dog?

I looked him in the eye during Rosh Hashanah and pleaded silently, "I want to live." This was my silent Shofar sounding for the Holiday, too sick as I was to blow with him as usual during Elul. Is this not the cry that every Jewish heart utters silently on Rosh Hashanah. We look to our Master as the Shofar, inarticulate as a dog's beseeching eye cries, "I want to live", in answer to "Who shall live and who shall die".

He heeded my look, and my chemotherapy began on the Tuesday before Yom Kippur. And as we read yesterday on Yom Kippur, "The preeminence of man over beast is naught, for all is vanity." (Ecclesiastes, 3:19).

That's my point of view, and you are welcome to it.

Head-butting Ibex of Mitzpe Ramon

noreply@blogger.com (Ira The Starman of Mitzpe Ramon) — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 22:39:00 +0000

I was walking to the Crater Shul for Minchah on Erev Yom Kippur. Approaching the door, which backs up to a large park near the crater's edge, I encountered a herd of mostly young Ibex, tensely gathered together over what looked like some delectable treat on the ground. Several young males were contesting for it, as a sage veteran looked on, when all of a sudden the elder of two young Ibex started head-butting the younger away from the treat which he claimed for himself, apparently with the approval of the elder looking on. It is amazing to see how quickly the head butts come, just as it is amazing to see how quickly the Ibex can disappear up or down a vertical wall.

Two young male Ibex fight over a tasty morsel on Erev Yom Kippur

The Ibex scattered as yeshiva boys appeared for Mincha.