Introducing the Hardline According To
     ...Ofer Maimon

So it's been little over a month since I last updated this blog and the reason is quite simple: it's been a rough month, but I won't delve into the sad specifics, suffice to say it's tough to change language, country, city and culture, and that when the novelty wears off, it gets tougher. Being single for protracted periods of time doesn't help much wither. Today I was supposed to go to Ramat Beit Shemesh to spend Shabbes with a friend, but unfortunately Egged had decided to runt their last bus there at 14.00, so I had to cancel. Below, please find some pics and action points. * I did manage to get to Tzfat about a month ago, and it was a very pleasant stay in an environment very different from the one in Beer Sheva. I stayed at the Chabad run Ascent hostel  – clean, friendly and cheap and I dearly recommend it for anyone interested in spending some time in Tzfat. Tzfat is located in the Galilee, high up in the mountains, on a mountain top, and it usually snows in...

So the idea was to go to the Kabbalist city of Tsfat this morning. I was just going to drop in to the health clinic to see the doctor. After finding my way there, though, the clerk informed me that I had no appointment. Weird indeed seeing as I had booked one on the Internet, a very impressive novelty to me that you could do that, and I would have been even more impressed if it had actually resulted in an IRL appointment. Maybe they'll get around to that part in the near future. Last time I was here I was informed that there was only on doctor in place, and so they could only take emergencies. Now she gave me a handwritten note, with an appointment at 12.50. When I logged in to my Clalit account, this information was also available there. It's a strange and beautiful world. To make visits to my health clinic a bit more stressful, the clerks, as is the Israeli custom, are always understaffed, and are not only there to help the physically present patients but also answer the c...

As far as I understand, once you own a plot of land and have secured a building permit in Israel, you can pretty much build what the hell you want on it. This gives architects and builders a very big freedom, which results in interesting, fascinating, innovative and horribly ugly buildings. Below, please find what I believe may be the ugliest building on the planet. Now, what on earth were they thinking? First of all, you can't see anything out of the windows as they are facing the street. And second what is it supposed to look like? It has a vague similarity the the Escanian speciality "Spättekaka", with soot stains added..... Escanian speciality Completely Ad Hoc, if you like snacks from the plant kingdom, Israel is your place, as can be seen from the above picture from my tobacco dealer. The below vista is the first that will greet the newcomer to Tel Aviv, capital of the state of the Jews,  if he gazes right just after exiting from the maze that is Tel Avi...

We seem to no longer care about freedom in the Western World. To get on an airplane we happily undergo searches, nude photographing in full body cameras and general humiliation. Smoking is forbidden in bars (where people drink ethanol!!) and kindergarten kids are made to wear helmets in the park. Soon we all have to wear helmets go take a stroll in the city. Our e-mails are read by anonymous grey people and our wires are tapped, the books we borrow in the library registred, the sites we visit on the Internet. All in the interest of safety. Our safety. We want to be safe, safe, safe. But you can be safe in prison. Prison. Or 6 feet under. And do anyone truly believe that all these cowering safety measures will save us from the reaper? We ALL owe God one death. All of us. And I rather live free than in prison. Anyone remember FREEDOM? Like that? In BOLD LETTERS? It wasn't that long ago, people. I remember.  

So. Too many things are happening, or in any case flowing through my brain, for each and all of them to be given it's own lengthy post, although they deserve it. So I thought I'd just post a bunch of pics and let you know what they mean.... Below is the front of the Shul where I say my afternoon prayers. It's mostly comprised of Jews from Tunis and Morocco. It has a beautiful exterior in Jerusalem limestone and a Gabbai named Emil who scolds me whenever I've missed a day or two. One thing with Shuls in Europe is that they are old. Old interior, old style Aron Hakodesh, old people, old, uncomfortable benches from before WWII. I sometimes thing they are unconsciously made into memorials and witnesses of the world that was murdered by Europe. Synagogues in Israel on the other hand are new. Well lit, modernly designed, people of all ages, chairs so comfortable you risk falling asleep in them on Shabbes. The cats. Every city in the world has a choice. Either they are full...

In the wake of Sweden's first suicide bomber, the blogoshere will no doubt fill up with stupid racists and stupid apologists. While pondering their useless points of view, it may be worthwhile to keep the following facts in mind: Most practicing and believing Muslims are not jihadists. And basically the largest part of immigrants from the Muslim world are not practicing or believing Muslims. However. Islam has serious problems in facing the modern world. It is a conquerors religion which has no room for honorable compromise – the world is in the eyes of Islam divided in Dar-al-Islam (House of Islam) and Dar-al-Harb (House of War). Period. No grayish, boring middle ground. The exceptions to this outlook (they do exist) remain an extreme minority, aggressively disregarded by mainstream Islamic practice and theory as formulated in Mecca or Cairo. The only ones who can change this picture are peaceful religious Muslims in the West.  And so far they aren't doing it. A s...

Just looked out my window to take some photos of the sand storm, and noticed an unusually bright moon hanging over the town. Took me a while to realize it was actually the sun who's rays were so dimmed out by the blessed sun that you could actually look straight into it without hurting you eyes....below a before an after study for your contemplation. Clear weather view from my window.... ...and sand storm view from my window.