Is Anti-Semitism Your Egypt?

Passover is the time to ask what's our contemporary Egypt and how to get out of it.

Maybe you are a not a pyramid construction worker, but live in an anti-Semitic environment? Anti-Semitism is strong in week countries. They have to blame someone for their economic problems. Why not the Jews? After all, it worked for centuries.

If you live in Hungary or followed the latest elections, you are probably aware that the neo-Nazi party, Jobbik, got 20% of the votes. This means that every fifth Hungarian is willing to actively harm Jews, while the majority of the population feels the same but prefers the extremists to do the dirty job for them.

It looks worse on TV than in reality. Really? Nothing major happened, someone just spat on you, called you names, made anti-Semitic remarks next to you. You don't tell anyone you are Jewish, you wear a David's Star under your shirt or blouse. 

What happened 70 years ago can't repeat itself. These are more modern, civilized times. Wrong! War crimes happened more recently in the Yugoslav war.

I am Hungarian of Jewish religion, just like Hungarians of Catholic religion. No such animal! Judaism is not just a religion, Jews are a separate nation. Even if you assimilate, you still remain a Jew. The anti-Semites will find you and uncover your identity, just like they did with Szegedi Csanad.

The world has learned from the Holocaust. Not at all. Armies and militias slaughter citizens and nobody cares. The only people who learned from the Holocaust are the victims. The state they created and its military are the only modern Moses around. 

Time to take your matzo and cross the sea. It won't be easy, but freedom is worth the sacrifice. 

When the Penny Drops

When the penny drops and you suddenly understand why something happened, the pieces fall into place so perfectly that you don't need any proof. You catalog the matter in your system and get on with your life. But what if one day the proof falls in your lap without you looking for it? You write a therapeutic blogpost about the resurfaced injustice to bury it for good.

I was 16, fatherless for two years, raised as a princess, clueless about the surrounding world. Studying at one of the most prestigious schools in the county and ranked among the top students in my class, I was mostly preoccupied with dating this father figure, preparing loosely for the upcoming "level exam" to get into 11th grade. Knowing that even if I don't make it into my favorite class, there are plenty of others and although less prestigious, they are still in the same high school, I didn't worry too much.

To my surprise, I was not only told  I've failed the exam, but that there is no place for me at that school and at any school in town. I will have to learn in a village - the ultimate downgrading and humiliation. "You should not be allowed to learn at our school, you will soon leave for Israel, anyway, we better give your place to someone who stays", said my former class master. After lots of bureaucracy, I was able to get into a school with a really bad reputation, in town, in the Hungarian section. Although I spoke Hungarian, my writing was self-taught and basic, and my vocabulary limited to domestic conversation. My classmates were a bunch of low achievers, expelled from their former schools. After a few nightmarish weeks, I managed to get into an industrial  school, pretty much the same level, but at least the tuition was in Romanian. To my surprise, a former [Jewish] colleague learned in the same class. I never asked her how she got there. Shortly afterwards she emigrated with her family to the USA.

My industrial school classmates were mostly village girls who came to  town to become textile workers. I befriended my bench mate, a dexterous Hungarian girl and helped her with her studies. We exchanged presents: I made her an embroidered tablecloth, she knit me a blouse. A year later I married the father figure and started my odyssey to Israel, repressing the sour memory of these last two pre-matriculation years. 

For years I believed I actually failed that exam, until one day the penny dropped and I realized that what happened was a blunt antisemitic act. Whether a policy from "above" or local initiative, not less sickening than the Jew trafficking Romania was engaged in.  

Thirty something years later, a woman in Hungary opened her closet and found a tablecloth embroidered for her as a present. After some nostalgia tears, she found me online and sent me a nice mail. We started corresponding, including the inevitable subject of that school we both hated and whether we kept in touch with other girls from there. I remembered the Jewish girl (who is among my Facebook friends) and asked her how she got to that school. "It's an interesting story. Allegedly, my level grade wasn't high enough to stay at the [prestigious] school. The interesting part is that my colleague got to stay with a lower grade than mine (the grades were published on the board) and so until my father fought for my reinstatement, I was sent to the industrial school. That is when my dad decided there is no future for us there and we better leave."

Wrist and More

My wrist pain is back. I put an elastic bandage around it, not too tight, more to remind myself not to strain it until I find a better solution. People seeing the bandage or hearing about it said it stops the blood flow. So I removed the bandage. Went into Superpharm to look at wrist support bands, but could not decide which one would work. Decided to consult my family doctor when I see him next time.

I come to his office with the results of my annual checkup so he could enter them in the computer (it is as stupid as it sounds). "According to the latest research, people who do periodic checkups don't live longer or better than those who don't", says my doctor, always up-to-date on the latest medical research, and starts entering the results. He prescribes medicine and explains the technological wonders of prescriptions with barcodes. Naturally, I forget to ask him about my wrist. End of wrist story, not the end of pain.

Later I stumble on an article about the advertising budget of my Health Fund, a good few million dollars. I imagine the volume of health services this money can buy and get angry. All I see from this budget is pushing useless shots, aggressive phone sales of  yet another insurance, a stupid newsletter, a retarded website and a cute animated TV commercial with a kid named Chamudi. At close to $ 300 monthly fee, I expect a much better web-based self-service system, medicine to the home, atypical tests when necessary, quality medicine and a doctor who actually checks me instead of typing on a computer.

Now, if I could get rid of the cactus in my throat, I'd feel better and complain less.

I Was Trafficked

No, this is not a mistake. I was sold and bought like a piece of merchandise. For $500. Really. My husband's list price was $3,000. The seller wanted 10,000, the buyer offered 2,000. The negotiations ended at the final price of 3,000.

In a shameful chapter of its history, Romania sold its own citizens. They sold Jews to Israel for petrol pumps, Danish piglets and cash.

Together with a cinema hall full of fellow trafficked compatriots, I watched Radu Garbrea's documentary, Jews for Sale, and saw how our own immigration story (which I may blog about one day) was part of the bigger political and economic picture of the time. 

Neurologist Dr Ashkenazi from Bucharest tells his own story in the movie. When he is finally on the plane to Israel, his brain tricks him into feeling like the plane is flying back. I had a similar moment in 1984 when I boarded a train way before it was supposed to leave the station, and refused to step on the platform again, fearing I would be left behind forever. I'm sure many immigrants had variations of this moment.

Accelerating Technological Change - Impact on Humans

There are many theories and discussions about accelerating technological change. However, one point is clearly under-discussed: the impact of this insane ride on individual health and happiness, and human society.

The need to stay updated and constantly reinvent ourselves to stay ahead is clearly taking its toll and will eventually backlash. People already refuse to be constantly online and reachable, don't check their mails every minute or update their status on social media apps, prefer real over virtual, local over global. Will people compromise on wealth for a better work-life balance? 

Some already do and more will follow. We'll see alternative lifestyles (Amish-style, ecological?), social structures (eradicate social injustice of immensely rich vs. dirt poor) and employment models (balance overworked with unemployed, new forms of cooperatives?). What will happen in countries wealthy enough to offer their citizens a modest living without the need to work and work as we know it today will be optional?

Here is an interesting article I recommend (with thanks to Ilan F).

Tourism Paradigm Shift

Unbelievable as it sounds, I started this post in 2008(!), under the title "What's Wrong with Tourism?". The few bullet points I wrote laid in the draft copy undeveloped until new technology (websites and applications) came to the rescue.

The main idea I wanted to convey back in 2008 wast hat tourists usually have a shallow experience of countries they visit. They see sites and take pictures, but don't get to know locals, talking only to receptionists, waiters and other service providers. Yes, there are exceptions, but they are not the norm.

Vacation home exchange sites were the first step into a deeper experience, with the movie The Holiday suggesting this is a way of finding romance. Couchsurfing.org soon followed opening up two-way communications. Tripadvisor.com and Booking.com give useful comments and rankings, making them invaluable for planning and booking vacations. Eatwith.com is the latest I heard of, helping you dine in private homes or host travelers for a meal in yours.

So yes, tourism becomes more personal, a positive shift for people who like to know others from around the world. But with all this globalization going on, we are still looking for and value the authentic and uncharted.

Vacation Summary

We summarize. Everything. We discuss likes and dislikes and sometimes grade. Virgos like closures, so here goes.

We recently returned from a 3-week vacation in Slovenia, Croatia, a bit of Italy and a pinch of Austria. Yes, 3 weeks. Not so long ago, it was not unusual to take 3-4-week vacations. Now you tell someone you took off 3 weeks and they look at you like a weirdo or sinner. While everything happens in shorter cycles, our brains need time to disengage, absorb the change of scenery, calm down, relax, and return to work refreshed. This "always-connected" modern slavery will lead to counter-revolution. Not sure we'll see droves of people joining the ranks of the Amish, but many will try alternative, quieter lifestyles.

Our two twenty-something year old boys came with us. Grownup kids joining their parents on vacation is also unusual. But actually we joined them. Tom organized the trip, Dan drove, we sat back and relaxed (when he wasn't driving too fast) and paid the bills. We argued, even about such petty things as the order of visiting sites on a certain day, but all in all it was a pleasant togetherness. Actually, I was the only one not fitting in, as the long uphill walks were difficult for me, while the guys jumped around stones and boulders with the gracefulness of mountain goats.

This was the first time we were repeatedly recognized by locals as Israelis before saying anything. So after four decades we look like Israelis. More precisely, like Israelis traveling across Europe. Actually, one person said I look Scottish. Never met anyone Scottish, so I don't know about that. Israelis abroad tend to recognize each other, but with all the globalization going on, this is becoming more difficult. Instead of the irritating "where are you from in Israel?" you get a long stare when hearing Hebrew.

Going away also helps putting things in perspective. Regardless of the tenseness and frequent news about the Middle East, Europeans have their own lives are worries, they know surprisingly little about what's going on here. We are certainly not at the center of their attention.

Slovenia has Switzerland-like landscapes, with Ljubljana as its small but chic capital, with many landmarks designed by their visionary architect Plecnik. Larger but poorer Croatia's Zagreb looks more like an architectural patchwork. Northern industriousness versus Mediterranean mindset coarsely summarizes the difference between the two countries. Trieste is super-polluted, while old Vienna offers grand palaces, music and pastries.

We enjoyed the mix of outdoors (mountains and valleys, caves and waterfalls, forests and gardens, lakes and rivers), cooler weather, culture, food and wine, being served, and the interaction with different people. Any suggestions for next year?