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the cypresses are in the
heavens
we're still here
Write, she said, write, the cypresses won’t know whether to laugh or cry. Write that the coming elections are from
God, that they’ve saved us from a brother’s war. Write that the State of Israel is truly an economic wonder, managing
to convey "business as usual" with an insane overdraft of seven hundred and ten billion shekels!!! And for those who
only understand numbers, 710,000,000,000,000.
But then who’s counting… when in Jerusalem there are streets where men are permitted to walk on the right, and
women – only on the left; buses where the right sit proudly in the front, and the left take the leftovers at the back;
and every week they threaten to close off another street to traffic on Shabbat; and as the Minister for Jerusalem
Affairs of Heritage and Shmeritage put it – Jerusalem is a capsule of the entire state, and it’s only a matter of time.
Borrowed time…Soul time, David’s time…the King of Israel’s time.
Secular people like me can only trust to evolution that
has managed to keep us here more or less safely…but
on second thoughts… it would be wise to learn from
those who keep sending me the “Two Rules a Day” mail
- something that until recently was automatically filtered
out as spam, but out of curiosity, I opened the mail and
read avidly, if it works there, maybe it would work here
too.
For instance, ask two rules a day: with what thoughts
should a man start the day?
Answer: Before Morning Prayer, a man must devote
himself to G-d’s love, and all that follows will be all right.
And what should a man beware of during Prayers after a
sleepless night – for instance, anxious about the insane
rent rate, or the fact that in order to buy an apartment he
has to emigrate to Bulgaria?
Answer: He should get over it like a lion, making sure he
doesn’t let his eyes close during the Sh'ma and miss the
reward.
And if he needs to relieve himself? Answer: He will make
the Asher Blessing, but will not wash his hands before
the Prayer.
I must admit that I, personally, wash my hands at every
opportunity, just in case I shook the hand of someone
who came out of the toilet and didn’t have time to pray. But I’m no example of anything, because although I’m
an architect, I don’t believe architecture is the sublime profession it used to be, due to the fact that in order to
plan a building today, one needs to deal with six hundred regulations, suck up to sixty clerks, and go through six
admissions committees.
I don’t believe that housing shortage is insoluble, because the problem lies in the incredible taxes from which the
State and local authorities make a fortune – Betterment Tax, Purchase Tax, Sales Tax, VAT, Income Tax, Outcome
Tax, Party Tax, Coalition Tax and, mainly, Corruption Tax.
I doubt being the “Chosen People” is worth bragging about, but I have no doubt that the approaching elections come
from God.
Dance, she said, dance, the cypresses won’t know whether to laugh or cry. Dance for as long as you can. But I’m
not made for dance lessons (I muttered)… never mind, she said (forgive me, Shlomo Artzi for the free interpretation
of your beautiful song), it’s a kind of a sunset, thank God the cypresses are in the heavens, and we’re still here.
Architect, Dr. Ami Ran
editorial
Courtesy: Yury Malkov Art Collections