December 14, 2002
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Shalom, Shalom,
It's almost midnight here in the City of Gold and we're just winding down from a wonderful Shabbat evening. Mark and classmates led our monthly Hess Minyan (by the way, Hess is the name of the street we lived on and minyan is basically another way of saying prayer service) and it was SO filled with spirit. Every month it continues to grow in size and enthusiasm. We followed it with a table full of friends for Shabbat dinner. Just washed the last dish, until tomorrow when we'll have guests again (as I mentioned, we're working on having everyone in Mark's class over for Shabbat at least once, so if you have any favorite recipes, we'd love to try them out...).
Not a whole lot to report from Jerusalem, as I've been sick most of the week. I picked something up when we were in Tzfat last weekend and I'm just now starting to get rid of it. Thankfully, I have a good caretaker for a husband who made some Jewish penicillin (AKA chicken soup). That, combined with a few other less tasty drugs, and I'm back at about 90%.
This cold did, however, give me a chance to see some new movies. American History X was among them -- a disturbing, but somehow hopeful, movie about the perpetuation of hate. It certainly left me with much to think about and many reasons to be grateful for the open-minded family within which I was raised. Although the storyline was about a group of young skinheads in Southern California, it's easy to compare the hatred and insensitivity with what is happening in many places throughout our world -- including here, in the Middle East. When parents whisper words of intolerance in their children's ears, and then these children take the trusted messages into adulthood, well, we're left with quite a mess. Where and how does this cycle end? Some say it's hopeless, that the cycle is inevitable, but I don't believe it. It's true, messages from childhood are strong, but I refuse to believe that's all there is to grow on. Derek, the main character in the movie, heard louder and more impactful "whispers" from a positive force and, in turn, was able to change. May such whispers win out.
Shabbat Shalom with much love.
Have a great weekend,
Rachel Ann
