It's too hot - really hot - to be travelling around today. I decided to shop locally, in our big supermarket in the mall, rather than travel to Jerusalem. The place is packed with last-minute shoppers. The store is closed on Saturdays and closes 2:30 pm on Friday. I walk in and everything is plastered with Sales signs. I look closer. Wow! A giant 25 cent savings in fabric softener. Nearly every fabric softener has this sale sign on it. Buy 10 of these and get one at half price! Buy 3 of these expensive frozen food items and get one extra stamp. 40 stamps and you get discounts on pyrex bakeware. I went to buy chickens. The bearded guy looks at me and smiles - I haven't seen you since last week, he remarked. I smiled back at him and said to myself - I haven't been here in 6 months! I ordered two whole chickens. "Is this one OK?" he asked holding it up for me to see. Meanwhile the chicken's insides are dripping disgustingly while he's holding the damn thing up for me. "Sure, it's beautiful - thanks!". He did the same for the second. I felt like throwing up and commented to a woman standing near me - It's a wonder why I'm not a vegetarian. I saw an exit sign and wondered if I should take myself up on it. Leave quickly. The fruit look aged, unlike the shuk where you only see first-rate stuff. I maneuvered through 10 aisles of food trying hard not to buy the familiar imported (and expensive) items like chocolate covered oreo cookies, dijon mustards, and salad dressings and Aunt Jemima's from the good ol' US of A. I did it - I made it to the cashiers with only an imported Twizzlers with the rest of the stuff local. One thing I noticed today, everyone trusts each other there. I saw babies left in strollers in the aisles - which would never be done in the US/Canada because of kidnapping sickos. Someone asked me while waiting in line - "Mind watching my stuff?" which included her purse, and off she went to look for more stuff to put into her cart, and I thought of Barcelona where even if you held onto your purse it wasn't safe. Thank God I'm here.
Friday, July 30, 2004
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4 comments:
Leah,
Thanks for sharing your shabbat prepraration ba'artez. When I lived in Jerusalem, I loved the bustle hustle and rush of shopping on Friday morning. Wanding through the shuk or up and down the isles of the local Super Sol or just around the corner makolet, the smells, sounds and greetings all mixed as the country prepared for the quiet calm of shabbat.
I hope that your shabbat is peaceful.
From another Leah
http://survivorthriver.blogspot.com
Some parts of life in Israel sound so wonderful. It is not easy to keep Shabbat here where everything is NOT geared to that. We try though. Last night at our Bible study group (we are a mix of Jews and Gentiles) it was brought up about all the incoming Jews from France in recent days and how we need to find ways to send help for the new immigrants as we know it is expensive and Israel does not have that much extra resources right now. Thought you might like to know that there are those of us out there who hope to be able to help. Gotta find ways to cut the budget more in this house so we can do that. Elizabeth
Actually I found it easier, strangely enough, to observe the Sabbath in Canada moreso. Our days off work are Friday and Saturday. If you're observant, Friday is your cleaning and shopping and cooking day. No time to visit friends, family, go to the movies, the beach, the park, have a barbecue, etc. If you're not observant, you have Saturday for that. The only time the country had a "Sunday" feel - was during the day of Independence Day. This was a time for getting together with friends who don't live within walking distance and just hang out. And that's only one day a year. Natan Sharansky was trying to get Sunday as a day off work here, but people born here don't understand the concept of a Sunday. Not like in Canada where we used to have a lazy Sunday morning, straighten up the house, putter around the yard, perhaps go to the in-laws, go to garage sales, go to an amusement park or beach with the kids. You don't get that here unless you're secular and use Saturday as your day to do that.
good going on the "make a donation" key!
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