By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Life in Israel continues to be a heady mix of joy and frustration. We were happy to return from France to our house near Jerusalem but it was not an unalloyed pleasure.
We had been informed in advance that the fence around our garden was showing signs of collapsing, thereby endangering anyone standing or walking on the street below. We knew that something would have to be done to rectify the situation. On a visit to the nearby plant nursery, where I went to restock the potted plants in our house which hadn’t been watered for two months, one of the workers there offered his help. His name was Bilal, and after a brief phone call he came (on one of the hottest days of the year) and set to work getting rid of the collapsing metal fence. His strength and energy were astounding, and after a few hours of work nothing was left of our fence and the plants clinging to it. Now we are waiting for a new fence to be erected by a firm that specializes in that kind of work.
Our joy at being able to see our children and grandchildren again was tinged with a note of apprehension when we realized that our electric dishwasher had given up the ghost. The idea of clearing away the dishes from a meal for 17 people without the aid of a dishwasher was alarming, so one of our first tasks after returning from France (as well as shopping for provisions) was to buy and install a new dishwasher. This was done with Yigal’s usual alacrity and efficiency, and a new machine was delivered and installed in short order, within a day of our return.
And so, the two days after our arrival in Israel were spent shopping for essentials as well as cooking and baking and getting ready for the ‘invasion’ on Friday evening by almost all our children and grandchildren. And what a joyful reunion it was! They came from far and wide, eager to see us again and to be reunited with their cousins once more. Being hugged and kissed by each and every one as they came into the house was heart-warming, especially to experience our nine-year-old granddaughter hurling herself into our arms and telling us that she had missed us, as well as to meet our newest grandchild, four month-old Emily. Even our heavily pregnant grand-daughter-in-law was prepared to withstand the two-hour drive from Binyamina to join us. Now we are awaiting the arrival of our new great-grandchild – another exciting milestone.
Mountains of post had accumulated while we were away, and many official documents and procedures had to be attended to. In addition, our TV sets were on the blink, and that, too, required endless telephone calls to the company providing that service. Most ominous of all, because the house had been standing empty for over two months, cockroaches, the dreaded ‘jukim,’ had felt free to take possession. Our wonderful cleaner had come and cleaned the house the day before our arrival, managing to get rid of as many of them as possible, but remnants of them were still in evidence once we were back. I personally have an unreasonable dread of those insects and cannot even glance at a newspaper page with a picture of one, so imagine my horror at finding a dead one on the stairs and then seeing a live one in our bathroom! I think my scream could be heard back in France.
In Israel there is no escape from the dreadful political situation, so that the joy of being home again is tainted by the dark cloud cast by affairs of state. Israel is a democracy, so once one has cast one’s vote there is little one can do to affect the situation. While demonstrations are still allowed, there is no indication that they have any effect on policy-makers. So life goes one, the sun shines and we do our best to remain cheerful.
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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson is an author and freelance writer based in the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion, Israel.