Lately I’ve been grateful for cactus flowers and how beautiful things can grow from sticky situations…
For honeybees and the wisdom of beekeepers who’ve spent years tending them…
For the company of family and how lovely it is when you can share passions with them…
For shared Zionism, and that we’ve been in this together since day 1…
For memories of times before smartphones, and how some people are constants in our lives…
For Twinkie-cousins…
And for a new type of work-life balance. The photo above is from my second week at a NEW JOB- the face is me realizing that I’m home at 5:30p after getting gasoline and a car wash. What is this life of luxury?
Photos taken on my Minolta XG-1 using Ilford monochromatic film, 2022.
On October 6, 1973 Syrian and Egyptian forces launched a surprise attack on the State of Israel. It was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Syria’s invasion force comprised of 700 tanks (against Israel’s 175) and they carried state-of-the-art missiles and night vision (which Israeli tanks did not possess). The Syrian tanks invaded Israel in the Golan Heights through this valley.
On day 4 of the battle, Commander Avigdor Kahalani rallied his outgunned and outnumbered tanks in a desperate and almost suicidal final attempt to stop the invasion. Amazingly, the Israeli forces prevailed and defeated the invasion force. Over 500 destroyed Syrian tanks and armored personnel carriers were left behind from the battle. Following their defeat at the Valley of Tears, the Syrian offensive was effectively stopped.
After the Yom Kippur War, the battleground became known as the Valley of Tears (in Hebrew, Emek Habaha). Today, a Jewish National Fund memorial site stands for fallen members of the armored corps from the 77th Brigade. The memorial is called Oz 77, from the Hebrew word for “strength.”
Part of the monument consists of a T62 Syrian tank, one of the tanks that spearheaded the Syrian attack. Look for the gaping hole in the front where it was hit in battle.
Somehow, and I do know exactly how, I didn’t end up with hardly any photos of our Seder(s) for 2022. Largely because I was too busy soaking it in. By it, I mean a Seder- not virtual, not cancelled– just an in-person, sharing food and wine, reading the Haggadah together, Seder.
Our family Seder was slightly delayed this year due to Covid. I don’t mean Covid in the abstract sense, I mean Scott and I were isolated for being Covid positive on the original date… so it ended up a little later and smaller than planned, but that’s ok. There was no way we were going to cancel altogether, not after the last 2 years.
One photo I did nab was this snapshot of the candles Mom bought in Safat especially for Passover. If you don’t know, safat candles are a *thing* and these were not only gorgeous, they literally did not drip. Contrast with the regular ol’ Shabbat candles I usually get from Kroger (which I used for my Aunt Cheryl’s Seder) which drip allllll over my candlesticks every time and inevitably lead to me standing over the sink with ice cubes and a butter knife trying to scrape the dried wax off the sticks, and, because I forgot to put down a plate or tin foil… the tablecloth.
Unbidden Grace 