Views on the News 5.3.21

Five Jews, six opinions. 

I read the news that interests me. Even the news I engage with, has intricacies way above my attention span and responsibility. However, everyone is entitled to my opinion and I welcome yours in the comments below (which will be moderated). 

1. Do we trust Joe Biden?

I'm going to be brave here and say that I honestly didn't care about the results of the US elections. All my friends in the US, Israel, and in the UK were congratulating each other and breathing a huge sigh of communal relief when Trump lost. He wasn't very eloquent and often sounded like a bumbling idiot. There were also serious aspersions about his character and some very worrying accusations. 

On the other hand, I'm sitting in the Middle East where four more Arab countries have made peace agreements with Israel, to add to the cold peace we already have with Jordan and Egypt. This is the nearest we have been to peace in the Middle East since, well since ever. 

Meanwhile there are reports about Biden's cognitive health which, I admit could all be propoganda from the opposition - I wouldn't know. I do know that the first international action he's taken in office is to bomb Syria. At least Trump kept America out of any wars for four years.  

2. The Meghan Markle Debarkle (mispelling intended).

Enough has been said across the board about Harry and Meghan, the as yet unseen Oprah interview, the accusations of bullying, the strangely fluid definition of words such as privacy, compassion, service, and victimhood. I am left wondering only one thing. How did a woman with such privilege, wealth, beauty, connections, and eloquence (you have to admit that she makes a very impressive word salad), and with aspirations to follow her late mother-in-law's dream of being the Princess of People's Hearts, turn herself into one of the most hated women in the world in the space of three and half years (since the engagement)? There has to be some serious delusion and inability to understand human nature to pull this off. 

3. Brexit Turned Out Handy. 

Whether you were Remain or Brexit before 2021, you have to admit that the UK's independent political status has behoved it regarding the speedy and efficient vaccination of its citizens. Whilst Europe is mired in delays, misinformation, and bureaucracy, the UK is well on the way to being optimally vaccinated with a plan to be back to normal (within it's borders) by the summer.  

4. Define Ethnicity.

A great debate broke loose in the UK last week as to whether Jews are an ethnic minority or not. Imo, ethnicity cannot be accurately defined in a way appropriate to all minorities. There are so many questions. The main one being whether ethnicity is about culture or biology. 

You can convert to Judaism but you can't convert to being Black. Are all Black people of one ethnic group anyway? Are the Pygmies of the Congo Basin the same ethnicity as the Masai of Kenya and Tanzania? That seems a bit racist to me as they are only grouped together is because of skin colour. And yet all people of European descent are called White when, for example, the swarthy Greek bares no resemblence in skin colour to the red-headed (and often pastey skinned) Celt. And what does Asian mean when it covers everyone from China, through India, to Arabia? 

So is it a cultural definition, including religion and/or way of life? What difference what God you believe in, if any? Growing up in London, I had more culture in common with my Indian and Black classmates than I woud have had with rural sheep farmers in Yorkshire. Or, with the few Jews left in places like India, Afghanistan and Morroco. 

I understand that ethnic intelligence is designed to help minority groups by providing for their needs in the places they live, and also to guard against discrimination. However, maybe we should stop labeling people according to race or ethnicity and just ask, when it's appropriate, which cultural groups they affiliate with. This would be a matter of choice, open to more than one option, and fluid.

 

Cooking from the HeART

What do you do when you find yourself in quarantine with a fortnight's worth of free time? For Sally-Ann Thwaites the answer was simple. She would use the time to collect all her recipes, hithertofore on scraps of paper or on her phone, together into one convenient file. 

Sally-Ann (Sassy to her friends) is a great entertainer. Her passion is to have upwards of 10, and sometimes 20 friends around her dining table almost every Shabbat. Her greatest joy is a house full of guests for a party, a barbeque, or a celebration of any sort. So, on hearing of her plan to collate all her delicious recipes, everyone encouraged her to go the extra mile and make it into a book.

Thus began a five month project which resulted in Cooking from the Heart, a 260 page cornucopia of entertaining know-how, recipes, tips and luscious photos. 

Emerging from her solitary confinement, Sassy invited all her friends whose dishes she'd been borrowing for years, to send her the actual recipes. She contacted the chefs of restaurants and hotels to request the recipes of dishes she and her husband have particularly enjoyed locally and on their travels. 

She also dug deep into her memory to recreate the best loved dishes of her childhood. Recipes from her beloved mother, also a great cook and entertainer, and her first inspiration in the kitchen. In fact the book is dedicated to Monica Slater, a lovely lady whom I remember well from my childhood in our community in London.

When I offered to do some editing, I was told there would be about 25 recipes a week for three weeks. No problem, we were in lockdown, I wasn't going anywhere. But the recipes kept on coming. When, five months later, we reached 130 recipes I asked if this was a book of her favourite recipes or of every dish she'd ever eaten. Haha, very funny. These things often take on a life of their own. 

If you're going to do something, do it properly, right? A professional photographer, graphic designer and printer were essential to make the leap from crafts project to coffee table splendor. Fun for us, because every few weeks, in between the lockdowns, there was photo shoot and a whole bunch of friends had to come over and eat all the food. 

Sally-Ann setting the table.

I learned a few things too. Apparently a grazing table is a thing. But don't worry if you've never heard of it before as there's a page dedicated to telling you how it's done with elegance and panache*. Ditto for other more familiar concepts like table settings, buffets, reception food, and fruit platters.

Obviously after all the time, effort and expense, this is not the sort of thing where you print five copies and give them to your closest family. With the help of a sponsor, Cooking from the Heart is being distributed in aid of Beit Halochem, an organisation that supports military veterans in Israel. (Suggested donation £30 and all the proceeds go straight to the charity.) 

There's a facebook page where people are posting photos of their dinners from the book. It's fun to see everyone's choices, interpretations (because no two cooks are the same), and comments. And you can find information about how to get your very own copy. 

I've completed a few little projects during this pandemic, but Sassy raised the bar considerably. In fact, in my Jerusalem neighbourhood, I'd say she won the lockdowns by a mile. 

*I am particulalry interested in panache at the moment, having just started this new blog.

The Call to Vacction (It's a Play on Words).

Jerusalem Payis Arena
The sign says: Maccabi Always With You. 
 

 3.20 pm: I'm giving a zoom English lesson to six 4th Graders. The phone rings. I don't give the lady time to tell me anything. I say I'm a teacher giving a zoom lesson and I'll be able to talk in another 30 minutes. Had I known what it was about, I would never have hung up.

 3.50 pm on the dot: She calls back. She's from Maccabi, my health fund. Would I like to make an appointment for the first round vaccination? Of course I would but as I told the person I spoke to a couple of weeks ago, after receiving invitations by sms, email and a phone call, I'm allergic to latex and they warned people with allergies to speak to their doctor first. Last time I was told that as I'm not yet 60, I don't really qualify. Which begged the question - why invite me to make an appointment then? 

Since then they are filling in free slots with people in their 50s so as not to waste opened batches of vaccination that have been out of the freezer too long to put back. 

This nice lady asks if I'm allergic to any medicines and specifically any inoculations. No and no. So you're fine, can you come at 4.20? Whoa, I'm not sure I can get there by 4.20. Ok, 4.40? Done. 

I am about to hang up when she says, "one more thing. Your second jab will be on the 25th January also at 4.40." I'm amazed. Are you an angel from heaven? The truth is that Israel does what it does best in a crisis. We're used to crises.  

 3.55 pm: I dance around my apartment feeling like I've won the lottery. 

 4.05 pm: I jump in a taxi. "Driver! The Jerusalem Payis Arena! And don't spare the horses!" (I'm paraphrasing.) 

 4.20 pm: I walk into the Arena. They give me a number at the door which corresponds exactly to the number showing on the screen. Cubicle 9. Straight in. 

 4.21 pm: I give my ID number. "Rachel Selby? I see you had your flu shot three weeks ago." Yes and yes. "Which arm?" Reader, I didn't feel a thing. 

 4.22 pm: I'm sitting in the lobby having been instructed to wait 10 minutes before leaving. 

 4.50 pm: I'm home and half vaccinated. The trouble is that no one knows which half. And anyway, my 50% immunity doesn't kick in for 8-10 days. But who's going anywhere in the next month anyway? We too are heading for a strict stay-at-home lockdown due to start within 48 hours.

Apparently we are stopping the first round of vaccinations at the end of this week and spending the rest of January giving the second round. I wasn't going to bother with this first round. I thought I'd contact my GP, maybe have to get an epipen and a doctor's note. Whatever, I planned to be ready for the February intake. I was quite happy to let the first 1.5 million people try it out before me. But, now I'm happy, relieved, honoured, and very grateful to have been given this opportunity.