March 11, 2024

Joseph Zitt's [as if in dreams] 2024-03-10

Hi. I'm Joseph Zitt. I moved from the US to Israel in 2017. This is my newsletter about more-or-less daily life in my city in the shadow of war. You can select these links to subscribe or unsubscribe. There are more links at the bottom. You can also read this email online here. Here we go...

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I have to duck around my landlord's ladder on my way to work. He is pruning high branches from one of the trees in the yard. I have heard him out there, as usual, since just after dawn.

More bitter oranges have fallen from another tree onto my steps. I carefully kick them to the side as I pass them.

On the street after the shortcut with the stairs, a cat dances symbols of infinity around a woman's feet. She is walking toward a low wall with a bag of kibble to feed the cat and its clowder of friends.¹

The trash on the official heap on the street where I work looks more symmetrical than usual.

As I reach our office building, I get to hold the door open for a long parade of baby carriages. I could have had a fulfilling career as a doorman, though I was never any good at hailing American taxis.

I see that Ramadan is officially starting tomorrow.² It could only start when officials had actually seen the crescent moon. There was some question as to when that would be, due to dust in the air.

I try to imagine what would happen to travel plans if Americans weren't sure exactly when Thanksgiving would be. Or, even worse, Black Friday. You don't want to get in the way of Americans who are determined to shop.

Each³ side⁴ in the current conflict is worried that the other side might escalate its violence during the holiday.

The American president had been hoping for a truce before Ramadan started.⁵ A member of our War Cabinet, our probable next prime minister, has posted an official message for the start of the month.⁶

A writer in Al Jazeera gives a view of the meaning of the month:

"If a Muslim can give up the most basic of human necessities and maintain that abstinence entirely without coercion, then engaging in activism in the service of justice is a minor effort in comparison."⁷

A news report from the UAE has footage and descriptions of grim preparations for what celebrations they can have across the border.⁸

Meanwhile, in the afternoon prayers at the office today, we take note of the beginning of our month of Adar, which includes the holiday of Purim. A saying says that "When Adar starts, joy increases." We'll see.

The lyrics to our revised Eurovision song have leaked.⁹ Those who would claim that anything that we say or sing is propaganda are claiming that it's still propaganda.¹⁰ We should have a video for it in the next couple of days.

I understand that the clocks have changed back in the States. Ours don't change for a few more weeks. That means that there's either one more hour's difference between our clocks or one less. I can never keep that straight. I understand that either time springs forward and falls back with respect to clocks when these changes happen or the clocks move with respect to time, but I get confused as to which.

I used to celebrate the change of time zones by buying a new cheap watch each time. I would always have lost the tiny instructions for how to change the previous watch by that time, so it was easier to get a new one, with its instructions right in the packaging.

Sitting at my desk, I wonder how to wrap up this post. I close my eyes to think. My mind's landscape changes to the bookstore from this weekend's dreams. I open them, sit back up, and finish writing and posting, so I can wander back there in my sleep.

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Here’s an archive of past newsletters.

You can find me via email, Bluesky, Mastodon, Facebook, and, just out of inertia, X/Twitter. There's more about me and my books, music, and films at josephzitt.com.

The newsletter’s official mailing address is 304 S. Jones Blvd #3567, Las Vegas NV 89107. (I’m in Israel, but if physical mail comes to me at that Las Vegas address, it’ll get scanned and emailed. I don’t expect that to happen much. If you want to send me physical mail, ask me for a real address.)

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L'hitraot.