Tanks, Kubeh, Bourekas and Babies: A Personal History of Immigration to Israel
It turns out that Israel takes on different appearances depending on whose eyes it’s viewed through. An early twenty-something steps off the plane and sees through wide eyes a sun-kissed land filled to brimming with young olive skinned honeys filling out olive-toned uniforms in all the right places, deliciously greasy buckets of shwarma meat seductively rotating on their spits, glistening bottles of Goldstar and milky glasses of arak, and idyllic kibbutzim whose apparent main agricultural product isn’t exactly found in the SuperSol, all set to the exotic high-velocity throat music of modern Hebrew. A thirty-something longtime resident of Israel sees exactly the same thing, except it’s through the windshield of a somewhat sensible sedan as he drives his toddler to daycare. It’s all about perspective, and to understand how one perspective slowly but surely evolves into another, you have to understand how one falls in love in Israel and stays there.
• 1974. Was born.
• 1982. The son of my chazzan (cantor) visited my synagogue while on leave from the IDF. I was somewhat in awe.
• 1984. When I was ten a friend returned from a summer trip to Israel. I recall asking if there were any amusement parks there. She asked her father, and he said there was one called “Ferris Wheel” in Rishon Leztion. Israel had suddenly become an appealing place for me to visit. I enjoyed Dollywood, so I figured I’d enjoy Israel too.
• 1986. Mrs. Osmon, my Israeli Hebrew teacher at Hebrew school, had it in for me and became one of my childhood enemies. She did not endear me to Israel.
• 1987. Two Israeli students visited my Hebrew school and brought with them a cassette tape of Israeli rap. I ran like DMC.
• 1986 - 1990. Through my involvement in USY, my connection to and knowledge of Israel grew. Fought incessantly with leftist teachers at my high school about Israel. Digested every book possible about Israel to use as ammunition, Exodus included. Saw movie. Had crush on Karen Hansen Clement. Worried about Israel and was glued to CNN during the Gulf War. The chazzan from my synagogue went to volunteer. Was in awe.
• 1991. Visited for the first time as a participant on USY Poland Seminar/Israel Pilgrimage. Holocaust bad. Israel good. Refused to wear sandals. Drank a lot of Kinley. Was in awe of the IDF.
• 1994. Ms. Carmel, my Israeli Hebrew teacher in college, had it in for me and became one of my adulthood enemies.
• 1994 - 1997. Became heavily involved in pro-Israel activism on the campus of SUNY Albany. Many debates with Anti-Zionists and Israel-haters. By the time I left they were still Anti-Zionists and Israel-haters. Started to hate myself. Was in awe of all of friends who made aliyah and served in the IDF. Decided that I too want to serve in the IDF.
• 1997 -1998. Made Aliyah. Got drunk a lot. Ate kubbe soup for the first time. Rejoiced. Enjoyed hummus as a meal. Naomi, my Hebrew teacher at ulpan, did not have it in for me. Left ulpan early to be drafted into the IDF. Served in the Armored Corps. Learned to love, then hate and finally respect tanks. Got dirty. Wasn’t as a good shot as I thought I was. Spent Israel’s 50th anniversary on guard duty. Thought that was cool. Lost 30 pounds. Began a life long relationship with baby wipes. Gained perspective. Listened to Berry. Met my future wife.
• 1999 - 2007. Bourekas, majadra, meorav yerushalmi. Cremshnitz, za’atar, Golan apples. Lahmajun, sabich, samboosak. Hummus. Worked at a myriad of start-ups. All failed. Not my fault. Got married. Strong relationship. Worked in print journalism and then ISRAEL21c. Learned that Israel is hi-tech and cures diseases. Started business. Business succeeds. Had baby. Was in awe. Baby succeeds. Named her Tzofia after my favorite line of Hatikvah. Am in awe.
• 2008. Hate the politicians. Left and Right. Secular and Religious. Frustrated with the leadership. Demand change. Understand why they don’t but wishing our greatest minds would run this country. Love my family. Love my friends. Love my country. Want to help fix it. Hummus still delicious.
The 60 Bloggers project is co-production of Jewlicious.com and the Let My People Sing Festival. It is published daily for 60 days to celebrate Israel’s 60 birthday.
Tzofia: Year One
She may not have manifested any powers yet, but Batman did just fine without any. Thanks for making this Ziva!
Happy Birthday Tzofia Reevi.
Thanks for being so freaking cool. Not only are you looking more and more like your mother every day (thank God for that), but you have managed to inherit my wackiness, sense of humor and love of music. Though you enjoy peas cooked to death and I do not. We’ll work on that. I’ve had a lot of proud days as a father thus far, but among the proudest was when you ate Chamusta yesterday. Jewish Kurds everywhere (and Dan Greenberg) rejoiced. This year has been the best ever. You’ve achieved sidekick status much quicker than expected. You are my Bucky. My Robin. I love you and hope you had a happy birthday, even though you looked really, really confused when everyone was starring at you and singing.
Adventures in Babysitting
Ziva has been in the states for the past three days for a whirlwind trip to America in order to be the matron of honor at her cousin’s wedding (Mazal Tov Eli!). For the first time in my life I’ve be the sole caretaker for little Tzofie. I actually started to write this post as Ziva left but never finished. Just to get into my head space at the time check this out:
It’s not a big deal yet it is a big deal. Not a big deal because I’ve been involved in taking care of her for the past 10 months, so at this point I should know what I am doing. Routine. Routine. Routine. Just stick to the routine Harry and you’ll be alright. She respects you, you entertain her and she is comforted when she is around you. Though if you pass another kidney stone, your arthritis flares up or your back goes out again you are screwed. As is she. What if she freaks out if Ziva isn’t around?
All of my fears were unwarranted. First of all I’ve been totally healthy. Though she obviously misses Ziva a lot (she is always looking around for her , especially when I say “Mama.” These past few days have been among the most rewarding of my life. Tzofia and I are pretty tight. We speak our own language (people think I’m insane), have a mutual respect for both Salacious B. Crumb and Ghoel the Wol Cabashite (Jabba’s minions who sit on the bookcase and with whom we bid goodnight to every night), love music and enjoy each other’s company tremendously. Tzofie has been saying Dada fairly frequently lately (Much to my dismay Nighthawk never really caught on) but for the past two mornings she has woken up in a joyous mood. This morning was a real treat. I heard movement in her room and she began calling for me with obvious excitement in her voice. I walked in and she was standing in her crib for the first time. When she saw me she gave me the biggest smile, yelled “Dada” really loudly and reached for me. I really don’t know how to say this without being sounding absurdly cliché and incredibly cheesy but it was a defining moment and a major turning point in our relationship. I feel closer to her than ever and can’t wait for Ziva to get back already to share in my joy and rejoin the family lovefest. And to change the nasty poop filled morning diapers. That would be helpful as well.
Where babies come from…
Representing on Strong Island
Survived the flight though I’m feeling a bit gimpy. Feet are a bit swollen and the back aches. Been here for about six hours and still haven’t showered. Had a ton of emails to catch up on and am looking forward to actually taking a couple of vacation days. Tzofia was incredible on the plane. She slept a lot and barely made any noise while she was awake except for a few “ba ba ba’s” here and there. She has such a wonderful soul. She spent plenty time clapping, waving and smiling at everyone. She is such an angel. For sure our next kid is going to be the spawn of the devil.
Thinking about heading out soon to blow some cash (actually a gift card) on a new digital camera for the lady (she needs one for her blog) and a pair of bluetooth earphones for myself. There is a Target next door so I’m sure I’ll walk about with a bunch of crap I don’t need. Like a bucket of milk duds.
A Perfect Day
Yesterday was my birthday. It’s weird, because for the first time in my life I couldn’t remember for about a full minute whether I was turning 33 or 34. What does this mean? Am I at a stage in like where birthdays become irrelevant? Or just somewhere in mid-thirties purgatory and I’ll start to care when I get closer to forty. I’m not one of these people who dreads getting older every year. Despite my sometime geriatric like health problems (psoriatic arthritis, lower back and nerve pain due to pressure on my dural sac) I’ve been feeling quite well lately. I still have a nice head of hair, albeit about 45 percent grey (though this has been the case for the past 15 years) and a youthful vigor.
I enjoy getting presents as much as the next guy, but this year there wasn’t really one thing that I really wanted, though a midi keyboard and a new external sound card would be nice (hint hint). Yesterday was my best birthday in years.
When fatherhood became imminent I often thought about all things I would do with my daughter. At the top of the list were guitar sing-a-longs, Friday afternoon dance parties and taking her to the zoo.
We’ve been doing guitar sing-a-longs for months now. She can’t quite sing yet but blurts out interesting sounds, reaches for the guitar and shakes her mini-tambourine. About two weeks ago she starting clapping which is awesome beyond words.
The dance parties are currently assisted affairs where we hold her hands, stand her up and she bounces up and down and screams. Her favorite song is “I’m a Little Dinosaur” by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers. She goes crazy when she hears it. Definitely my kid.
Ziva and I took her to the zoo for the first time yesterday. We weren’t sure how she was going to react and whether she’d be interested, after all she is barely nine months old. She’s fairly obsessed with our dog Noonie so I figured she might get a kick out of all the animals. And did she ever.
She laughed at the penguins, monkeys, bears and enjoyed the elephants most of all. By the time we got to the biblical reserve she was spent. Though I think it might have been one of the greatest days of her life thus far. For sure it was one of mine.
More children’s music that does not suck…
One of the things I’ve been most looking forward to as a father is introducing my daughter to music. There are few things I love more than rocking out. My life is dominated by song these days. We are really into transitioning Tzofie with music. There is a good morning song (very loosely based on a song from Singing in the Rain), a bath time song (a Ziva original), a night time song (A Ziva/Harry collaboration) and when she finally goes to sleep we hit her with the old lullaby classic “Bye-Lo Baby-O.”
I recently bought the soundtrack to Really Rosie with incredibly songs written and performed by Carol King. Really Rosie was a television special broadcast in 1975 that my sister and I were somewhat obsessed with. We must have taken the video out of the public library at least 100 times, destroying the heads and preventing children in the Comsewoque district from seeing it. Screw them. Most of them were Jew-haters anyway.
I vaguely recall seeing a live version of it as well - perhaps produced by the Long Island theater group Kids for Kids? Don’t know. Mother couldn’t confirm. The movie follows a couple of days in the life of a group of kids in Brooklyn (led by the ego driven Rosie) and are based on the stories of Maurice Sendak, who also directed the movie. Sadly, its not available on DVD (yet) but lucky for us some kind soul uploaded the entire movie (part 1, part 2 and part 3) on Youtube.
I can’t get enough of the song Alligators All Around. Such an incredible and unique alphabet song with an amazing melody. You can catch it at the end of part 1. The sound quality on the video is pretty bad but the multi-voiced harmonies at the end of “Alligators” are simply divine on the remastered soundtrack. It’s been over 20 years since I heard this song and I still remember every word. Despite being recorded over 30 years ago (!) the music really holds up. The album is filled with hooks galore with great sing-a-long choruses. Highly recommended.
Anyone else remember Really Rosie?
Happy Passover, Chag Sameach and all that…
Please note that Tzofia is sporting her frog outfit (complete with rocking froggy feet) as a reminder to the Egyptians not to mess with the Jews. You know, that whole ten plagues thing…
The great name debate
I’ve been thinking about what I want to be called by Tzofia. Shall it be Dad? Daddy? Abba? Harry? Daddy seems the most natural but once I realized that it could be anything I want I decided to get a bit creative. I eliminated the previous mentioned names and narrowed it down to “The Maestro” or “Nighthawk.” I’m leaning more towards Nighthawk. When she is older she can abbreviate it.
“Hey guys, I’d like to you meet my mom and Night.”
Metal.
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