Seen today in Jerusalem:

Haredi snowman (note the hat). How we design something relates to how we anticipate and perceive the norm. Creating a truly new or revolutionary design that breaks from prior references is incredibly difficult (and rare).

[image: Jerusalem Post]

Posted today on Janglo, a Jerusalem information-trading board:

Rabbi David Samson, dean of Lech Lecha, is making available his fleet of Land Rover jeeps and students to rescue cars and people from the expected Jerusalem area snow.

The students will arrive equipped with chains and ropes to pull cars, and shovels to clear paths and driveways. In urgent cases, they will transport persons to destinations in the capital. […]

The Lech Lecha High School is for youth at risk who have difficulty coping with the conventional classroom environment and go on jeep expeditions twice per week to study Tanach [Bible], history, and nature, alongside regular studies.

I was not previously familiar with Lech Lecha, but you can be sure I’ll be finding out more. I’m impressed by the name, the concept, the help offered, and the opportunity provided for the boys to be of service to others. [My applause here.]

Seen in Jerusalem:

Great café; nice decor. The whole facade is plate glass, including the sliding front door (maximizes usable interior space). Someone neglected to put any cushion or spring on that door. It shuts glass against glass. Ouch. I cringe every time it shuts (including when I’m the one shutting it). It already has some chips and dings.

Light is wonderful. Glass lets in the light, and connects the spaces. I’m delighted (sorry) to be seeing more and more glass used in architecture and interior design. Too bad it isn’t yet perfect.

Some of you will have noticed that the arrow in the top sign is pointing the wrong way (it’s pointing to the open direction, not the shut).  

Writing down passwords is typically the weak link in computer security. (Well, that and choosing really obvious passwords.)

My rental car had a code to enable the ignition to activate. The company representative kindly wrote the code for me on my rental agreement. He needn’t have bothered. Two previous renters had written it on the obverse of the sun visor:

Adaptive Path posted some personal New Year’s resolutions. Many of them reflected the self-promotion and marketing at which Adaptive Path excels  :D  but this one really spoke to me:

Last year my resolution was to not buy anything new. I made it six months. Not too bad, but maybe this year I can do better. Some folks who try this get all hard core and make their own soap and shoes. I’m going the less ascetic route and sticking to a basic formula of no flagrantly brand-new lifestyle purchases (such as clothes, accessories or household objects). My version allows unrestricted trips to the grocery and drug store for food and fundamental toiletries. Essentially it’s about remembering that I don’t usually need what I am buying — I want it. And if I do need it there is probably a perfectly good used one out there somewhere I can get my hands on. The flea market, consignment shops, Goodwill, eBay, my mom’s house — are all fun options. It’s about being resourceful. Do I already have one (or several!) shoved in a drawer and forgotten? Most likely. Do I have something that can easily be substituted? Perhaps. Can I borrow one? Probably. Can I make do without? Surely. Can I find one from the seventies? I hope so. I actually found that instead of feeling denied those six months I felt a certain relief. By taking away the option in such a straightforward way the shopping impulse began to fade, which also created space and time for other things. [Chelsa Robinson, via Adaptive Path]

(Six months? Wow!) That’s what I call making a real and substantive difference. It shows discipline and commitment to an ideal. Many people (myself included!) have times where they are forced to avoid buying new… but doing so by choice says a lot.

To ponder: Why is this resolution so easy to admire, and the anti-materialist attitude here not so?

I had occasion yesterday to be in a group comprised of a disproportionate number of very poor women. Not women who think they are poor — most probably don’t think so — but they are.

Notable: lots of very bad teeth. Missing teeth, discolored teeth, teeth headed in all directions.

Why? First, dental coverage is weak in Israel, despite health coverage being all right. So those who haven’t got the money simply don’t have the work done.

That’s the obvious reason. There’s another reason, culturally rooted, and more potent: in haredi culture, people take pride in being non-materialistic. That’s helpful for coping if you’re poor, although it doesn’t incentivize for climbing out of poverty (another story). It also means that in certain haredi circles, women are proud of looking dowdy. Dowdiness implies disdain of trends and fashion, and a focus on more important things than external appearance. This makes spending money on external appearance less compelling than it is in other circles.

Understand that I’m not making any sweeping statements. There are other equally religious haredi circles in which the women’s clothes will make your eyes pop out (”the Europeans”), and others in which the mothers dress down but make up for it on their kids’ wardrobes and decorating their homes. But there is this anti-materialistic group, as well, and seeing it yesterday in a concentrated form (dozens at a time) was striking.

When the secular Israeli media look down on haredi society (and they do), it is generally the stereotype of this anti-materialist segment that they are despising: Bad teeth. Outdated clothes. Shabby “grandmother” shoes on women in their 40s. No makeup. Sagging stockings.

That’s the external appearance.

Internally:

Intense focus on being good, loving mothers — the education of the children comes before everything — including reading books and joining workshops on the subject. Pushing themselves to their physical limits to help neighbors and strangers with a hot meal, babysitting, a listening ear, a relevant referral. Genuine interest in and care for everyone they meet.

When I had the option, I chose to live in a neighborhood with a higher proportion of poor families rather than a neighborhood with a higher proportion of “Europeans”. For one thing, it made me feel rich, whereas the other neighborhood likely would have made me feel deprived. But I also relish the intensity, the purity, the focus on the real things in life uncluttered by recreational shopping, ice coffee, and vacations in the Alps.

It’s a different world, and a refreshing one.

It’s a culture that deserves respect and awe, not disdain and discrimination.

Nice flags (depending on your politics). The placement is unfortunate: they obscure the view of the number being called.

The woman at the desk of the Licensing Office is a terror with the bell. She waits sometimes less than a second before ringing for the next number — ping, ping, ping. This results in a queue of five or six of the upcoming number-holders standing poised near the desks, ready to spring for their turn when it comes. It’s amusing to watch, like horses jockeying for position before a race.

Seen today in Jerusalem: 

Kudos to National Geographic for being true to its tradition of respect for other cultures.

Now available: an alternate edition of the Israeli edition of National Geographic magazine — targeted to the “Torah Observant community” (the term is inclusive of National-Religious, Sephardic, and haredi groups). Presumably, this NG version selects articles that avoid controversial discussions of evolution, and edits out those images of indigenous women that kept the boys in my fifth-grade class so interested in anthropology.

Thanks to Mr. Deadfish for the National Theographic title.

Sometimes you hear a story that just makes you want to cry.

A woman who lives not far from us has a hard life. She’s in her 30s, single, childless, and with severe health problems (physical and emotional) that prevent her from holding down a job. She lives on her welfare benefits.

She’s nervous, and although she hasn’t got much money, she calls taxis to get around — always from the Ramot Alon taxi company. The drivers got to know her over time, and decided together to give her a flat-rate price of 15 NIS anywhere in the city (typical in-city fares range from 15-40 NIS).

Last month, this woman went to get a haircut. As she left, she asked the receptionist to call her a cab. The woman responded, “Why order a cab and pay the extra fee, just catch one outside?” She did, and ended up unawares in an unregistered (=illegal) taxi. When she arrived and opened her purse to pay, the driver snatched the purse, pushed her out the door, and took off. She started screaming; a Ramot Alon cab was passing by, heard her, went after the first cab, caught him, and called the police.

The Ramot Alon drivers decided to give this woman free transportation for two months… The whole entire company. Each and every one of them. It’s what “little” they can do for her.

If you’ve think that Israeli taxi drivers are looking to rip you off… just think again.

Written on my Blackberry from the back seat of a Ramot Alon taxi.