Menachem's Writings

An Art Exhibition
and a Slice of Pizza for an Israeli Soldier

I've been very busy the last few days and this has reflected on my writing output. Sorry about that Chief. I expect to have more time next week to devote to real stories, but I wanted to write a few words today to keep up the momentum of the site, or as they say in Israel, to stay in the schwung of writing. Today's contribution is more of a blog than most of my writings.

I am in the middle of big mailing for PizzaIDF, reminding people again this year to send Honey, Chocolates and Honey Cake to our wonderful soldiers and their families, accompanied by warm wishes for a Happy and peaceful New Year . . . we deperately need Divine intervention, so everyone, please pray hard this new year (you can start immediately).

I answer each order individually . . . personally is the word I would prefer to use, but I do have a standard text which I vary according to each person's comments to us or to their message to the soldiers -- and after ten years or so of this project, you start to get to know your "clients". I also tag on to each of my thank-you letters a couple of "ads" (a word from your sponsor) for myself: please look at my stories site and at my photographs too :-).

I received a very interesting correspondence yesterday concerning left and right leaning Americans and their affinity and support for Israel. I'm not one hundred percent sure if this came to me as a general comment to my thank-you note or in response to something I wrote on my yarns site. This is what my corresponent wrote:

I'm a progressive (or a liberal, if you prefer) and it's of course a total myth that we don't support Israel. I know that my conservative friends like to insist they are more pro-Israel than the liberals are, and usually they point to some comment by an extreme leftie and say "see? THIS is how you liberals are." But using extremes on either side isn't useful, and there is heated rhetoric at the margins of both political sides. This hateful demonizing of "the other side" needs to stop.  As we approach the New Year, I'd like to see more conversation and less name-calling between conservative/right wing and liberal/left wing Jews. There are big problems to solve, and how we talk to each other is part of the solution, it seems to me.

That said, I really love the PizzaIDF site, and wish it got more publicity.

I don't know if JTA.org or The Forward have written about it, but if they haven't, they ought to, not as a commercial or a free plug, but as an example of something BOTH righties and lefties can get behind -- I may not agree with everything my government does, but we can all agree that the soldiers are worthy of our support and a gift of food to them or to the beleaguered families in Sderot is absolutely a worthy cause at this time of year.

Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year,

D.
author, educator, media historian, friendly Jewish feminist, and yes, pro-Israel

Well, I'm happy for anyone to take up the gauntlet and spread the word about PizzaIDF, in the media or via social networks to which everyone seems to be cinnected these days. The more pizza we send out, the more happy soldiers we'll have . . . and it really, really does make them happy, very happy.





The other thing I'm working on is an exhibition I will be putting on with a very talented chap called Mike Darnell. He is not a photographer per se, but produces graphically interesting artwork -- in a style very different from mine with a viewpoint different from mine -- hence the dialogue. We're calling our "two-man show" something like,

A Dialogue on Yerushalayim
in Yerushalayim
Two artists
Two styles
Two generations
Two reflections
of
Jerusalem

The exhibition will be held during Sukkot (longer if "necessary") at "Gallery @145". Located at 145 Jaffa Road, in the centre of Jerusalem next to the Shuk Machane Yehuda markets, it is in what used to be our offices. In addition to the art work on display and sale, the property is also up for grabs.





Expect to see you all there -- and next week I hope to be back with a new story with some of my mischievous friends Peter, Mark and Joe and the other colourful characters in my immediate environment (Bentley, Hadley, Job and Spike).


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Please feel free to and don't forget to stop by my site to look at my latest (and classic) photographs. There are even some photographs there which I took on my trusty Canon A1.

Enjoy!





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