Gina, Maya and I are walking through Carmel market, the shuk, on Friday morning. The shuk is teeming with every food product imaginable, artists and merchants seeking to interest the thousands of customers preparing for Shabbat. We are surprised that there is an international flavor to the packed aisles. Groups from all over the world speak a variety of languages as they sample the tastes and smells of this vibrant city.
Not surprisingly politics are in the air. The election is at hand. People don’t work on Tuesday. Locals tell me everyone walks around talking issues, parties and personalities.
We are walking past a stand selling nuts of all kinds. A campaign worker for Likud and the kipa wearing merchant are engaged in a raging shouting match. Bibi will not be getting his vote.
When we come to the end of the street we come to a veritable bazaar of politics. We count at least 6 parties competing for attention trying to convince the undecided. Lots of back and forth: which party will finish first, which will be asked to put together the coalition, which will succeed, will the President ask Labor and Likud to form a unity government? Will either agree?
In the midst of this Whirlwind a Lubavitcher young man approaches me, tefillin in hand: “Are you Jewish by chance?” he asks.
There in central Tel Aviv on Friday the chances would be pretty good.
Not at all by chance, I thought to myself. By choice.
We are having an amazing time here and together. There are lots of smiles and shouts of Shabbat Shalom, but just below the surface there is a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Most Israelis want things to be different. They want to be embraced by the world, they want trusted and trusting allies, they want a lot less insecurity about what careers their kids will find, how they will afford housing. These issues worry people probably more than Iran ISIS or Hamas. They would love peace but hope for life less agonizing and more normal than it is today.
They will vote for whomever they believe can get them a healthy dose of normal.
Shabbat Shalom
