Praying for Rain

 

Before relocating here to Israel, neither my wife nor I were ever as busy as we now are.  I have been going back and forth to various places, including Beersheva, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and, of course, the Holy City of Jerusalem. 

 

Looks as though my prior posting called it correctly --  The security situation in Israel has been intentionally enhanced.  At that large mall in Tel Aviv, in addition to walking through the usual metal detectors, they are now using scanner wands on those who walk through to enter the mall.

A former client of mine who came here almost 20 years ago has just received his carry permit, and is carrying.  His son is now in an army combat unit, and, of course, is now carrying his weapon.

 

And, of course, there is the wildfire situation.  If the fires are not soon controlled, it likely will present a political crisis for the governing coalition, and Bibi Netanyahu will have to do something physical and visible.

 

We have already begun to ask G-d for rain in our daily prayers.  Bibi is not very religious, but I do believe that he is praying for rain as we enter the rainy season here.

 

 

I am interested -- and concerned

[The Mozilla browser USED TO BE my browser of choice, but since its latest update it is refusing to allow me access to various websites, including Blogspot.com.  In the name of enhanced security, it has turned itself into a useless piece of excrement.]

The American presidential election is huge here in Israel, possible the most important election in the country's history.  The Jerusalem Post, Israel's English language rag, has nothing but election recaps, election analyses, and foreign policy predictions.  The only things that are not election related are the weather and the sports (Israelis are very big on American, British and EU sports).

 

Basically, Israelis are very pleased with the results (with the exception of the leftist pockets in the Tel Aviv area, not too far from where I am located).  Even in Tel Aviv there is optimism over Donald Trump's victory.

Thursday evening my wife and I were walking down the street in our town.  We passed a sidewalk café frequented largely (but not exclusively) by American expats, and joined some of our friends who had just taken their seats at a table.  The conversation, of course, was about the election.

 

The concerns in Israel are whether Trump will be able to deliver on his promises to Israel, and, as always, the security situation here.

 

These days I am in Tel Aviv at least twice per week.  During the past two weeks I saw some subtle tightenings in security measures, including but not limited to more thorough backpack searches and a more visible presence of uniformed military, including at the largest shopping mall in Tel Aviv, where I have occasion to do lunch and/or shop on my Tel Aviv days.  I saw more people carrying at my shul this Shabbat, including some who are not law enforcement officers (including EMTs).  One of these non-LEOs is in my study group.  I asked him if there was any reason for special concern of late; of course he is very tight-lipped about such things, but he grinned and told me that it never hurts to be aware of one's surroundings.

 

Similarly, my wife has picked up some signals of enhanced security at the hospital where she is employed, including a colleague whose army reserve training exercise got revised to an earlier date.

 

I have a full schedule in the coming weeks.  Situational awareness will be a high priority.