Joseph Zitt's [as if in dreams] 2024-04-15
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...
I come back to the clinic to return my blood pressure monitor. I hand the form to the technician. The technician who had been on duty the previous day had filled in some of the fields. I have been able to fill in most of the rest of it myself.
I don't understand one field. It uses a Hebrew word that I don't know. This technician doesn't speak English, but can paraphrase what the field means. "Did you have any emotional events that would have affected your blood pressure?" Well, I did get angry at my computers a few times.
"Why did you get angry at them?" My internet failed. Programs didn't do what I wanted. My computer at work restarted while I was writing something.
"Why were you using the computer so much?" It's my job. I work with them.
She gives me an honest, compassionate look. "Ah. I'm sorry."
Taking the monitor off is easier than putting it on. I have to wait in the lobby for a few minutes while she extracts and prints out the results.
The TV is playing the news again, silently this time. There's an obituary for someone important in the arts, though I can't tell who she is or what she did.
My family sends me a link to a print obituary.1 I find another in the Jerusalem Post.2 She was a revered, 96- or 97-year-old choreographer and bandleader. The obituaries are full of references to other organizations, bands, and artists. I have come across some of the names, but they're from a generation back. I don't know much of anything about them. Had I grown up here or come here when I was younger, I might be more clued in.
The technician emerges from her office. She hands me a small stack of papers in a plastic sleeve. "Take these to your doctor. Be well."
The top page is in English, with a lot of numbers in a grid. I glance at it, though not for long enough to understand it, before I head on to work.
Our beaches are now open. The city has put a lot of work into organizing them.3
A new complex has been set up "for the benefit of children and adults with invisible disabilities (autistic spectrum, cognitive impairment)." There are other areas focused on other disabilities, and a spacious, well-equipped, new dog beach.
Home Front Command has announced plans for the availability of food in emergencies.4 They say there's no imminent crisis, but it's good to be ready.
They have tagged over three hundred supermarkets around the country as "iron branches." These will be kept stocked and open.
Two are in my city. One is by the beach, in a mall connected to the hotel where I used to work. A lot of bus lines come together there. The other is south of me, about a 45-minute walk, if needed.
They have prepared tens of thousands of food packages that can be delivered to families who can't leave their houses. They can update the packages as time goes on.
They're also reminding us of stuff to keep ready at home.
I should restock some things and recharge my power packs. The last time that I took a good look at these was at the start of the COVID lockdowns.
We're one man short as we gather in the hallway for the afternoon prayers. A man with a yarmulke emerges from the elevator. He heads away from us.
One of us calls out to him. "Friend! Friend, down the hall!"
The man looks back at us.
"Friend, we're short one for the prayers. You're invited to join us."
The man shakes his head. "Sorry, I have a doctor's appointment."
"You have an appointment here with our doctor in heaven."
"Sorry. The office of the doctor in heaven is open all day and all night. If I'm late for mine, she leaves."
One of our programmers emerges from the restroom. There are now ten of us. "OK, friend. Be well."
He waves. "Be well."
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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.)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
L'hitraot.
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The choreographer and director, the founder of the Roosters Naomi Polani passed away at the age of 97 - the Dvar news site ↩
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Veteran performer and director Naomi Polani dies at 96 - Israel Culture - The Jerusalem Post ↩
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"There is no need to stockpile food": the Ministry of Economy has created a list of "iron branches" that will operate even under fire - Davar news site ↩