The Succah Isn't Completely Down
Most of the walls are down, because I needed to hang out the wash, and last year I strained my arm trying to reach the clothes line. And that caused a weakness which facilitated my dislocating my shoulder while playing basketball.
Now, I'm sure you're wondering what this ordinary little story has to do with politics, and you expect politics on an Arutz 7 blog! Sure you do!
After 26 years of living in Shiloh, I'm still amazed at how inaccurately most people imagine our lives. We are just ordinary middle-aged people. Our once full and vibrant house is mostly empty and quiet.
Our mortgage has been paid. Mortgage you may want to ask.
"But we've always been told that the government gave you your home."
"Not true. Not true at all. We chose our building plot from the few available. Then we chose an architect, who started planning. And we sold our Jerusalem apartment to pay for our Shiloh home. And we took out a mortgage to cover the rest."
Yes, that's the truth. There were years when the finances were difficult, with a couple of children in high school at the same time, their tuitions and the usual expenses of a family with five children.
Politics is the "hum" surrounding us, but our daily life is typically suburban-- OK, I admit that there are a few differences. The school buses and public transportation are in bullet-proof vehicles. My son wasn't allowed to ride his bicycle to high school in nearby Kochav Hashachr because of the fear of terrorist attacks.
Our local cemetery has the graves of children and a young mother murdered in terror attacks by Arabs.
Some people won't visit us; they're afraid. And others won't visit us, because they think that Judea and Samaria should be Juden rein. I can't think of anything better than that Nazi term.
You may expect me to be constantly involved with and discussing politics. Here in Shiloh, in the center of the storm, there's a calm. But we know that all the "clutter" is swirling around us, a real "twister," is endangering our precious country. So in between the mundane of cooking and laundry, I certainly am aware and involved with the politics, but I, too, need detergent to get out the stains. Speeches and lofty words don't help.
Chodesh Tov and Shabbat Shalom
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