Let the food be your medicine

The headline to this post is a quote from Hippocrates. Already at that time, he understood that the key to health and healing lays in the food we eat. Still today we all sense, deep down, that this is true, but powerful economical and political actors like producers of processed foods, as well as pharmaceutical companies, are effectively preventing us from regaining charge of our own lives. This is worth taking under consideration if you are interested in your health. After all, healthy people would be the death for the pharmaceutical industry. Figure that equation out for yourselves.

Eat the rainbow

Up until a few years ago I almost exclusively ate processed foods, cooked and fried, heavy sauces and not so much raw things. Nevertheless, I was not extremely unhealthy, since I my sweet tooth was always moderate. Then I progressively started to transform, but the most dramatic step was initiated by a detox week I suddenly decided to go through. This detox was not a fast, rather it was a vegan week with cleansing smoothies and lots of fresh and crispy foods, and of course abstinence from animal products, white carbohydrates, sugar, coffee, black tea and other toxins.

This week made me feel vitalised and fresh and it made the character of my cravings for foods change for good. Before this, fresh vegetables often grew molds in my fridge, but all of a sudden the largest part of my plate was consistently covered with raw vegetables. I am not a vegetarian, and I never think that I will become one, since I love meat too much, but I am far more pickier with what kinds of animal products I eat nowadays. I can also go days without it, but then all of a sudden my inner predator screams for satisfaction and then it is time for some blood shedding.

The theory behind the raw foods trend makes perfect sense to me. Heat degrades the food into something that is not recognised as nutrients by the body. Vitamins and antioxidants are degraded and useful enzymes are inactivated. By the way, what other species cook their foods? However, if you investigate the matter a bit deeper, it is not that black or white after all, since some nutrients actually become more bioavailable through heating. Hence, I would never adapt a 100% raw diet, but my own system has clearly told me that a majority of raw foods is what makes it work optimally. Same goes for the animal products. I have always preferred my meat rare and I feel intuitively that the raw meat is more natural for the body.

I guess that my diet can be defined as a mix between the Palaeolithic diet and a raw omnivorous diet. Mostly fresh vegetables and fruits, berries and a lot of different nuts, and some nice meat, fish and eggs, complemented with small amounts of dairy products. The more active I am, the more carbohydrates I need, but I prefer to add that through whole-grains like quinoa, rice and buckwheat, or potatoes, rather than processed pasta and couscous, or white bread.

Seductive chocolate

Then we have the indulgence. I am not the fanatic type and there are things that I would never cut out from my life. I drink my coffee every morning, I drink my red wine and I eat my chocolate. All of the above mentioned have their own health benefits in moderate amounts, as you can see if you follow the links. In the case of chocolate, cacao is actually a real superfood, with high amounts of essential micronutrients, as well as several alkaloids with positive physiological effects. It also contains nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine and up to three times those found in green tea. However, I suggest going for as pure chocolate as possible, mostly whole cacao mass, with less (or none) additives like refined sugar, milk or other vegetable oils. What is even better is to choose raw chocolate that has not been roasted. Then you are sure that none of the "goodies" have been degraded.

Bottom line is, that we are what we eat. If you learn to listen to your body, it will also tell you what is good and what is not - and in what proportions. However, if your bodily intuition has been incapacitated and corrupt for a very long time, it might need some soft encouragement to get back on track again, but I can promise you that it will. That wisdom is already in there, in your genes.

It is still warm, yes!

We will get visitors from Sweden. Katina and her son arrives in Israel tomorrow for a two-week holiday and other than spending time with her sister who is married to an Israeli and lives in a kibbutz somewhere, we are also planning for some days together. Since she is also an aikidoka she will not get away with not practising with us, but other than that we plan to go to the Golan Heights for one day and finish off with a BBQ at kibbutz Ortal. Then we will probably take them to places like Zikhron Ya'akov, Daliyat al-Karmel, or maybe Akko. Anyway, after a conversation with me yesterday, Katina decided to repack her luggage and remove all coats, long jeans and knitted cardigans and other warm things like that. There is still no risk that even the night temperature will go below 25 degrees, hardly even in the Golan Heights. Today it is 37 degrees here! She has been her enough times to know better, but I guess that the Swedish autumn weather has already impregnated her system.

Tidying up...

I have had a very obnoxious head ache since yesterday evening. Only on one side and radiating down in the neck and around the ear. I could neither practice aikido yesterday evening or this morning. The sudden heat wave can probably take some blame, but I am aware that it is mostly stress and bad energy that is channelled out this way after being tossed and turned through unnecessary things we never asked for. Luckily the cleaning process is about to be finished. I have opened my Hebrew books and sit and prepare for my first class tonight while listening to Idan Raichel in the background.

The blueberry is not green...

I have been exposed to well-intentioned, but unrequested, chaperoning, as well as being fed with peoples ideas about how certain persons are or are not. This is something that I can understand as far as to where it originates, but I strongly oppose it and therefore I set my foot down. People are not a like, for obvious reasons, and to apply your own framework on another person can often create an illusionary image that fits your own ideas, but maybe not the reality. These kinds of implantation's of attitudes are most often more harmful than healthy, for everybody involved, and I prefer to make my own impression of people that I am learning to know. I am a big girl and I was not dropped behind a wagon, hence the blueberry is not a bimbo just because she is Swedish...

The good life...

Lazy day at the beach

We were considering going for the lunch aikido in Tel Aviv yesterday, but in the end we did not. Yoram has been driving to Tel Aviv every day this week so he had had enough of car hours. Instead we went to a mall in Haifa to look for some different stuff. We are about to attend a few weddings in the next months, and since I spend my days in flipflop's, some shopping was necessary. I found a pair of classic pumps, in gold, with 10 cm heels, as simple as extravagant. These shoes I can combine with basically anything, so next week I am on a hunt for a cool dress.

After the mall we went for some pampering in Zikhron Ya'akov. We filled up the wine bottles, drank a few glasses and had a nice lunch at Tishbi's. This has become a nice routine for us, every, or every other Friday or so.

In the evening Yoram took Goshen for a run, and in the meantime I prepared two 400 g entrecote's that we bought from Samir, our butcher. He produces the best meat you can think of and since there is no middle hand the prices are very generous. This was a time for our inner predator to devour and the only accessories we had was garlic butter and Tishbi wine. Yummy is an understatement!

We have hit one of many heat waves arriving during the fall, and the temperature these days lay well above 35 degrees, and today we decided to spend at the beach. We have not been there for several weeks now, and for Goshen it is even longer, and I really wanted her to swim in the sea water for the benefit of her fur and skin. The water has for natural reasons started to cool off a little bit, and we giggled and joked about those merely 27 degrees or so, being freezing. For the first time in months you actually got a slight cooling effect from stepping into the water, so it was pure pleasure. The water is also calmer now - not so many waves like during summer - and this made a huge difference for how Goshen could enjoy the water. All of a sudden she dared to follow us much further out, swimming over for her deep areas, to reach outer sand banks. We encouraged her to swim a lot since you cannot get much better exercise than that. She tumbled around like an otter, and it made her completely exhausted, but happy and content.

On Monday, my ulpan starts again (Hebrew class) and I am so happy. I have just waited and waited, but so many things are not started up until after the holidays. Of course I have my books to work with, but it is only reading and writing, and I look forward to see what difference these summer months have done to my understanding and speaking. I am convinced that I will understand so much more in the conversation group than I did before.

Seductive aikido

A meeting on the mat (Photo by Lisa Larsson)

Aikido is physical. Period. Two people meet and touch each other within their personal sphere, and unless you are completely emotionally inhibited and out of tune with yourself, you will occasionally experience energies of erotic character. We exercise hard and we sweat, the pulse is pumping and we are deeply focused on our partner. This expression of sexual energy is inevitable, but what is important is how we choose to channel this energy. First of all, aikido is about developing trust in our own emotional "nudity" on the mat. To be able to relax and fully engage in being thrown by someone else, we also need to feel safe in opening up our bodies for the exercise. This involves minimising the parts of your body (and mind) that you define as being intimate.

Hence, denying yourselves these sexual energies will not enhance your aikido, since this prude attitude will make your body and mind close up, instead of opening up. An attempt to suppress the feelings will create tension, distraction and distance to your partner. This does certainly not mean that you need to perform abstract intercourse on the mat - rather it is about channelling the energy into the aikido and use it in a joyful way. A friend of mine shared her encounter with this energy and how she had come to the conclusion that it is not about the energy itself, rather the label we choose to put on it.

Certainly there is most often some personal chemistry involved and this phenomenon will commonly not occur with just anyone. The fact that these energies are personal, can encourage people to argue that accepting them is the same as crossing the line of moral conduct, but that brings us back to the question of trust, inner peace and integrity. And the definition of morals.

Aikido is a martial art based on a universal truth. The universe is composed of many different parts, yet the universe as a whole is united as a family and symbolizes the ultimate state of peace. Holding such a view of the universe, aikido cannot be anything but a martial art of love.

O'Sensei (Morihei Ueshiba)

As you can see, aikido was already by its founder defined as the martial art of love, peace and unity. Of all the aikidokas that I know well, most of them are very physical people and the boundaries for the affection we can share with each other are most likely more tolerant and allowing than among the general population. So, are we then immoral? On the contrary, if you ask me. Good morals according to me is to take responsibility for your own inner peace and to be open, honest and generous in life. This personal quality brings forward good aikido - but at the same time does aikido practice bring this out of people - if the people allow it. Anyhow, it is all tightly intertwined and inseparable. So, go to the dojo and get seduced, allow the energies to flow, play with them, and create beautiful and powerful aikido.

Goshen walking the streets of Tel Aviv

I brought Goshen with me today to Tel Aviv, to see Anna and the other Swedish girls. First we spent a few hours in Anna's flat, everybody came and although the room was full of playing and shouting kids and the table was full of treats, Goshen found a corner and just relaxed. Then we went out together and walked down to Nahalat Binyamin, since Anja wanted to look for new fabrics for her armchairs. In the shouk we past people, dogs and cats, bikes but above all the cacophony of smells that a city like this produces, but she behaved flawlessly. Considering the fact that she is used to having the safe and quiet nature just outside her house, and that she basically never walks on a leash, I was very proud of her when she stayed by my side all the time, no pulling and no unnecessary excitation. This is the result of consistent education, through where you get a calm, submissive and trustful dog that you can put in any new situation without any hustle.

Four days of aikido revelations is over

There. Four days of intense Seki seminar is over, and my impression have exceeded my expectations, I have to admit! I am sitting here now on the sofa with a glass of well-tempered Tishbi wine, while Yoram is sweeping the floor, and I am contemplating the practices I have had with different people. Here in Israel it is pretty common that you choose a partner and stay with this person during the whole class, just like in Hombu dojo in Japan. This of course has both pros and cons. It adds a moment of strategic planning before the class starts, unless you want to end up with someone less comfortable to train with. However, when you are paired up with a partner you have a good chemistry with, it allows a deep penetration of the aikido techniques when you don't have to tune in all over again with a new partner after every technique. Seki has a minimal agenda when it comes to the number of techniques you will be presented with during the seminar. He delivers the basics, clear as crystal, and he returns to the same combinations of attack and aikido technique over and over again. This allows for a fine tuning that was quite effective. I improved many details during these days. I found more clarity in the techniques, but above all I improved my centre, ground and posture.

I paired up a lot with Yoram of course, but since we train together 4-5 days a week as it is, I tried to limit that and get together with other friends I enjoy, but don't see that often. Mostly Omer. We had a morning routine, first class of the day together, but then it also became some afternoon class. We are killing each other softly and always stay on the line, showing gaps and pushing boundaries, but with respect, sensibility and tonnes of playfulness. This chemistry is not growing on trees and something I am most grateful for and cherish highly. He is a person with qualities enough to enter my "book", so here goes Omer! Now you also entered my blog, after entering my life. ;)

Goshen has finished her first big aikido seminar, of many to come, and I think she deserves at least 1st dan after these days. From now on, she is not only Tivon Aikido mascot, but most part of Israeli aikido mascot. Even Seki petted her good morning when we arrived the last few days, and everybody was constantly talking and playing with her. Not only did she get a new life - now she is also filled with aiki...

Drained, but three more days of Seki

Today was the first out of four days of the annual seminar with Seki Sensei, with 6 hours intense aikido practice. It is the first time I see Seki and even though he does not teach exactly the style of aikido I prefer the most, I found him a remarkably (for being Japanese) humble and sweet teacher, and more than a few light bulbs shone up above my head during the day as new details fell into place. He does not talk much, but mostly teach by showing what he means, and his aikido is very clear with a basic form.

The pace is very high and you definitely get a good workout. The last hour me and Yoram had almost nothing left and mostly stumbled around and giggled or moaned back and forth. I feel every inch of my body and I am completely aware of how difficult it will be to get out of bed tomorrow morning, and not to mention getting ready for more aikido. Tomorrow will be hard, the next day even worse, while during the last day the body is getting used and cannot understand why it all has to end. That's how it is with aikido seminars. When they end, you are ready for more...

Goshen joined us, since the seminar was in a kibbutz suitable for bringing her, and the day was too long for leaving her alone. We first tied her on the side of the mat indoors, but she was rather excited and did not keep quiet, so we put her just outside. We heard occasional whines and barks, but the barks just made all of us happy and proud, since she hardly never barks for some reason. Our timing was excellent all the time, in which we came back to her as she was laying down and was quiet as opposed to going there when she was excited and barking. This will show her that barking is no good, and mummy and daddy comes when she is calm and quiet.

I need a full body massage with hot Tiger Balm...

Light of Tabor over the Galilee

Mount Tabor seen from South East

We had the plan to go on day trips both Monday and Tuesday, but Ziv was had a tummy bug, so Monday we had to spend at home. Today he was feeling better and we took off for a few hours. We went to Mount Tabor, the strange lonely bump in the middle of the flat Jezreel Valley. Mount Tabor is believed to be the site for the Transfiguration of Jesus, hence the Franciscan order built the Church of the Transfiguration and a huge monastery complex on top of the 4th to 6th century ruins of a Byzantine church. However, these Christian sites on top of the mountain was not what took my breath away. That was the view. The day was warm and clear after some night rain and the sky was full of dense clouds that broke the sunlight into distinct patterns on the ground. Quite magnificent and nothing you can catch with a camera, no matter how hard you try. Nevertheless, I tried... Click on the images to magnify.

View to the West

View to the North with Ein Mahil (probably)

on the top in the background

The Swedish shrine - IKEA

I have done my first visit to IKEA in Israel. The parking lot was over-full and cars were standing on all assigned spots, as well as forbidden areas, so clearly the campaigns to boycott Swedish products after the Boström organ trafficking scandal had not reached too many Israeli homes.

Examples of Israeli parking outside IKEA

This store is always packed, and today that was even added up a little bit more, since this week everybody is free from work for the Sukkot holidays. It could therefore be questioned whether the day chosen was respectful enough to my nerves, but I survived. I try to set myself into some kind of trance state, where I flow freely in between people, find what I want and then flow ahead.

I think we stood in a line for 30 minutes in the checkout. Israelis are not famous for their queuing abilities, but here it seemed to work just fine. Maybe the Swedish spirit of subdued self-control have penetrated the walls just enough to create some order. However, the sabra temper shone through and we had the privilege to experience a real cat fight between a cashier and her customer. Both were screaming shamelessly at each other and were just about to take physical action when the security guard came to cool off the conflict, and as if that were not enough, a whole bunch of other people around them had already decided to join in to the quarrelling. Charming...

Our catch...

After checkout I went to the Swedish specialities corner to get some treats. I came out from there with Leksands knäckebröd, Kaviar (Unfortunately not Kalles), Lingonsylt, Digestives and Marabou Mjölkchoklad. I guess I have turned to a real expatriate Swede now...

There are "Cujo's" here...

Tuesday evening we took Goshen to our vet, where she was de-wormed and immunised against canine distemper and rabies. In Sweden the dogs are immunised against distemper, but rabies vaccine is only required if you aspire to travel abroad with your dog, since Sweden is considered a rabies-free jurisdiction. Like most other countries in the world, Israel is not. 29 people have died of rabies in Israel since the State's establishment, while since the beginning of this year 32 cases of rabies have been reported in the country, of which 21 was dogs, and annual vaccine is mandatory for all dogs. Also wild animals are captured and oral vaccine is distributed. Most cases have been discovered in northern Israel, as the borders with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan serve as a place for the passage of wild and wandering animals spreading the disease, and this makes the work towards diminishing this incurable disease difficult. If any human happens to be bit by a wild animal here (or an unfamiliar dog) it would be extremely urgent to seek hospital care to get post-exposure prophylaxis. Good to know, like...

They cannot get no satisfaction...

In August in 2005 Israel executed a unilateral disengagement from the Gaza strip. About 9,000 Israelis from 21 settlements left voluntarily or was evicted under violent encounters between settlers and IDF troops. This decision, proposed by Ariel Sharon, has been a subject of great dispute, since the territory was left without any reliable governing support and supervision. This allowed Gaza to develop into the growing-ground of extremism as it is today, oppressed by the terrorist regime Hamas, which in turn is supported by the totalitarian theocracy Iran. With this history at hand it is understandable that a future Israeli disengagement from the West Bank will have to involve a mutual agreement with the Palestinians and a plan on how to secure a peaceful life for both Israelis and Palestinians.

The evicted settlers were offered generous compensations by the Israeli state, but the original budget of NIS 5.5 billion has today reached the staggering NIS 10 billion. Some of the settlers wanted more, and realised that the government would not stand firm against pressure and today they have acquired generous financial payments, prime land and an administration to serve all their needs. They simply got it all, but still they have retained a battalion of lawyers who have constantly kept the demands coming. These people are on the frontier in the battle for the Greater Israel, and they have no intention of making compromises for peace. This wound is kept open and infected in order to deter the government from disengaging the West Bank.

This lack of ability to compromise is of course also represented on the Palestinian side. All along history the Palestinian leaders at the time have chosen to turn down peace offers, beginning with the UN partition plan in 1947, that was accepted by the Jews but turned down by the Arabs, up until last year, when Ehud Olmert offered 97% of the West Bank and acceptance of the principle of the "right of return", an offer far more generous than done by any previous Israeli prime minister, or even Bush or Clinton for that matter. It is hard to see any true goodwill to achieve peace in this attitude, and up until today Fatah, which is considered to be the moderate fraction of the Palestinians, and the main partner in future negotiations, still reveals that their goal is a Greater Palestine within the borders of what today constitute both Israel and the Palestinian territories. This became clear after the Fatah general conference in Bethlehem earlier this year, where no change was made to the charter that still calls for the elimination of the "Zionist entity".

Both sides invariably argue that they cannot act until the other side offers far-reaching concessions. Abbas wants to see a construction freeze in the West Bank settlements, while Netanyahu asks for recognition of Israel as the Jewish state. Both demands are reasonable, but not requirements for initiating negotiations and this hard-headedness only slows down the process. This is something Obama realises and therefore he now demands that the leaders will agree to go into negotiations without preconditions. I have to believe that he has the capacity to succeed.

A touch of reality on Yom Kippur

At 17.00 Sunday evening we entered Yom Kippur, with 24 hours of quietness. No cars in the streets, no TV, no radio and only slow activities. A few hours later in the evening, we suddenly heard a military aircraft in the air and I looked at Yoram, who looked very surprised. A moment later, another one crossed the sky above us, breaking the silence with its deafening noise. At this point we both had a peculiar feeling that something was wrong and Yoram explained that previously he had only heard aircrafts in the sky one time before on Yom Kippur, upon which I immediately understood that he was referring to 1973 and the Yom Kippur war, where an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syra initiated a surprise attack on Israel on the holiest day in Judaism. A third aircraft passed and at this point we were checking if any media network had resumed broadcast to distribute any fatal news, but this was not the case. Things went quiet again and everything was over.

We still don't know what happened, but it must have been something important if they send up aircrafts on Yom Kippur. Either it had to do with rockets fired from Gaza, which still occurs on a regular basis, or it had to do with the test firing of missiles in Iran, conveniently planned for the Jewish holiday. Whatever the reason, it gave me a healthy reconnection to reality. Not that I am living in some ignorant bliss - I am always very aware of the progress of this situation - but anyway it still made the conflict feel much more close and real. I started thinking of what I would do if, G*d forbid, a war broke out. Would I stay, or would I exploit my privilege as a Swede to be evacuated, and so on. I don't think I would want to leave. We all have a destiny, and this is mine.

My very own puppy... :)

Goshen, the youthful Shepherd

Today Goshen got the best compliment a lady can get. We were strolling in the valley below and there we met a group of people with a small, young and fluffy dog of some indistinguishable fashion. It pursued Goshen to a play as every puppy does, by teasing her a bit, running back and forth. Goshen accepted and they ran around together for a moment. The owner of the fluffy dog then asked me how old she is, pointing to Goshen, upon which I answered seven, without any suffix. Then the man asked me whether I meant years or months. When I answered that she is actually seven years old, everybody in the company mumbled and nodded in admiration. Not only is it a good compliment to a seven year old dog that has been through a lot of things in her life. It is also a sign for me that I must be on the right track with my canine friend...

My Swedish girls in Tel Aviv

Spent the day in Tel Aviv with my wonderful Swedish girlfriends! What would I do without this realm where I can speak Swedish for a while and discuss how it is to move to Israel and start a life with an Israeli guy and plan a future with him, including everything that involves. You are all priceless, and you know who you are!

The peak of the holiday is emerging with Yom Kippur on Monday. Yom Kippur is the day of atonement and a very serious day and everybody respects this, even secular people. From Sunday afternoon and all Monday no one drives their cars, which enables a unique phenomenon where all streets and roads are invaded with kids on their bicycles. It is like all Israel transforms into a fairy tale where the children rule. Look forward to see it. I am more sceptic to a day in chastity, but I might be able to survive that too...

Islamist/Nazi compote in Stockholm

In Sweden they relied on pro-democratic exile-Iranians to protest when the Jew-haters Mohamed Omar and Lasse Wilhelmsson gathered Islamists, neo-Nazis and other Holocaust deniers like Ahmed Rami (the man behind the infamous Radio Islam), as well as Hezbollah, Hamas and Ahmadinejad supporters, with the purpose of agitating anti-Semitism and destruction of Israel. The Swedes stayed at home in the TV sofa to watch some more biased propaganda about world politics...

Appropriate response

Honourable organisations..?

Again it is time for some reflections over Israel in relation to the rest of the world. Not that I think that any nation in the world should possess nuclear weapons, even if merely for tactical reasons, but when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting passed a resolution directly criticising Israel and its atomic program, as the sole nation, then it is clear to me that one more time we are looking at an assembly with a dirty and biased agenda.

Israel, together with Pakistan and India, has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and Israel is thought to possess an arsenal of potentially up to several hundred nuclear warheads and associated delivery systems, but this has never been openly confirmed or denied. The constant threats from neighbouring Arab countries that Israel has been dealing with since its declaration, can at least be seen an explanation for why they have chosen to not reveal its status.

Regardless, I consider other nations to be more likely to use their nuclear arsenal and therefore constituting bigger threats for the security and stability in the Middle East than Israel. Iran is a party to the NPT, but has been found in non-compliance with its NPT safeguards agreement and the status of its nuclear program remains in dispute. Neither does Ahmadinejad give the Iranian regime much trustworthiness by repeatedly denying the Holocaust and agitating against Israel, in-between his violent struggle to kill the free spirit and democracy of his own country.

The IAEA resolution reflects building tensions between Israel and its backers and Islamic nations, backed by developing countries, and the result once again exposed the deep divide in the IAEA meetings. The approach taken in this case, after the Islamic nations and the developing countries won by votes, is highly politicized and does not truly address the complexities at play regarding crucial nuclear-related issues in the Middle East.

The fact that the UN is a joke is nothing new and the latest report on the Gaza war is yet another proof that objectivity and justice is not a virtue for the commission. The report was biased with the focus on Israel and it did not fully deal with Hamas' role in the conflict. The UN organ for Education, Science and Culture, UNESCO, is about to appoint a new director-general, and although no candidate yet has obtained enough votes, a controversial anti-Semite has so far obtained 22 out of 30 required votes. Farouk Hosny, the Ministry of Culture in Egypt, has stated that Israel was "aided" in its dark intrigues by "the infiltration of Jews into the international media" and by their diabolical ability to "spread lies". In 2008 Farouk Hosni provoked a further controversy by declaring publicly that "I'd burn Israeli books myself" in Egyptian libraries if he could. Does he seem like a suitable candidate for such an important post, if now the UN can be considered honourable at all anymore..?

UN is not the only organ that people tend to blindly trust, but which really would need to be viewed upon with sharp eyes and a critical mind. Human Rights Watch (HRW) is a widely credited and supposedly trustworthy organisation, but at a closer look they seem to routinely assign persons with shady backgrounds. The author of their last report on the Gaza operation, Joe Stork, once applauded the Palestinian mass murder on Israeli athletes during the Olympic games in München in 1972 and described it as a "moral enhancer" for Palestinians. He is also known for supporting Saddam Hussein and to oppose the existence of the state of Israel. Later on another analyst has been suspended and set under investigation for his Nazi memorabilia fetish. Marc Garlasco has made up to 9000 posts on collectors' sites like Wehrmacht Awards and German Combat Awards. Most auction houses does not even allow exhibition or commercial distribution of such items. Garlascos internet name, as well as the registration number on his car, is "Flak88", which was a German anti-aircraft, and 88 is besides that a common Neo-Nazi code. His logo is a svastika-covered German medallion. Not very conventional for a person who is representing a human rights organisation.

My bottom-line message is that using a wider perception and more diverse sources of information, will help you to not fall in the trap of subjective and biased thinking. We see enough of that already in this world and it does not help healing humanity...

Shana Tova - Happy New Year

Yoram pouring the Kiddush wine

Yesterday we had Rosh HaShana dinner at Yorams mothers place. Again an overflow of food, with the taste of Eastern Europe, Morocco, as well as contemporary Israeli stuff. We were five adults and three kids (not ours), but we laid out food for a whole battalion. Although the family is far from religious, we still followed a somewhat Seder and Yoram read the Kiddush, which was special since the holiday landed on a Shabbat eve. Then we ate; chopped liver, different salads, pickled this-and-that, fish, soup, stuffed chicken, marinated chicken, roast beef, potatoes, compote, apples and honey of course, and lots of wine. After we finished eating, I spent about one hour together with Yoram's mother and brother-in-law before we had put all the food away and cleaned all the dishes.

Bossy

We are taking care of Bossy for the weekend and we decided to bring him to the house, although he is not used to living indoors. We walked over to the house with Goshen and bathed both dogs thoroughly and then brought them back home to us. He is just a darling and Goshen is behaving as the best of role-models. Having an adult dog when you bring a puppy home is a blessing if the adult dog is well-behaved, but a curse if it is not, since the puppy is like a magnet to the adult dogs behaviour. In any way, we have the best behaved dogs in the neighbourhood, since the rest of them are undisciplined, dominating and territorial, vicious small bastards...

To be, or not to be... a Jew

Being a Jew can refer to a religious conviction, cultural identity, or ethnicity - or all three of them - but needless to say, it is a complex and controversial question. Conversion is possible, but the process is rigid and demanding, also if you would convert through a more progressive movement. In Israel, however, only the orthodox conversion is acknowledged, and this puts many people in a twilight zone, if they are not "religious enough" to make an orthodox conversion. Either they are part-Jewish (i.e. non-Jewish, if the mother is not a Jew) or they have through their life nurtured a strong connection and feeling of belonging to the Jewish community, religion and culture, without being Jewish by birth. But unless they accept the whole package of an orthodox conversion, with all that is included, these people will never get the possibility to be considered Jewish.

Marriages in Israel are also performed under the auspices of the religious authority to where the couple belongs, and there is no provision for inter-faith marriages or civil marriages. This means that the day we want to get married, that cannot happen in Israel. I am by far not in a position where I would even consider an orthodox conversion. On the other hand I guess that my Swedish family is pretty happy over the fact that we will marry in Sweden.

While the path to becoming a Jew is made harder than entering Fort Nox, parts of the Jewish community also see inter-faith marriages and assimilation as a great threat to the future of the Jewish people and arranges campaigns against it. Understandably this campaign imploded in a storm of criticism and was finally pulled. Then I am quietly pondering whether it is the right strategy to make it as hard as possible for people who wish to commit to the identity of being a Jew, when there is an outspoken risk that the Jewish communities in the world is shrinking. Or is their goal to accumulate even more autosomal recessive disorders like the Tay-Sachs disease..? If you ask me, I don't think that someone who has been here for 5770 years can be extinct easily, but please embrace those who so desire! Shana tova everybody!

Touring the Galilee

We made a road trip in the Northern Galilee yesterday, with the kids. On the way up we passed Safed, (aka Tzfat), but this was not the day to do Safed, since we had the kids. Safed is an ancient town that has been the secret centre of the Jewish world during times of expulsion, and it is also there that the Kabbalah, or the Jewish mysticism, reached the peak of its influence. Many famous Rabbis and Kabbalists have resided in Safed and still today Safed is an important spiritual centre for both religious and philosophical studies. The spiritual character of the town has also attracted artists, musicians and other creative people and the old part of the town consists of narrow cobblestone alleys revealing artists' galleries, medieval synagogues, private homes and small guest houses. However, I save Safed for a day, or even a weekend, when I have the possibility to quietly enjoy the place.

We continued and drove through the most amazing nature surroundings, that has contributed to giving the region the nick name The Provence of Israel. Many of the best wineries in Israel are situated in this region and the hill sides in the wavy landscape are patterned by wine groves, fruit trees and wild growing pine forests. Unfortunately it was Shabbat, and the winery we spontaneously tried to visit, was closed. We drove over the hills of Naftali and from the top you get an exquisite view to the East, with the Hula Valley in the foreground, with the Golan Heights in the background.

Hula Valley, seen from Keren Naftali

Golan Heights with Mount Hermon in the background

Hula Valley is Israel's contribution to the list of stupid interventions made by humanity on nature. Originally, basically the whole valley was a big swamp with an exquisite ecosystem, but in the 50's the swamps were drained to create agricultural land, but also to control the mosquito populations, since malaria was a severe problem that killed people in large numbers. Nonetheless, it turned out that neither was the land suitable for extensive farming, nor did the draining remove the mosquitos. The limited farming capability is due to presence of methane gas in the ground and the malaria-carrying mosquitos later had to be dealt with by extensive spraying. Today remaining parts of the swamp land are protected, but irreversible damages were still created. A few native species were extinct and the water reserve capacity is lost. Not something to be proud of.

We crossed the valley and visited a friend of Yoram's in Kibbutz Gonen, up on the hillside towards Golan Heights and after a coffee there we drove up to the famous fish restaurant Dag al-HaGan to get some lunch. They grow trout on the river there and you can get them prepared and served in numerous ways, according to taste. If you like fish, this is the place to visit! With all of us stuffed, it was time to head home. Goshen was alone at home and everybody was tired and whiny. The plan was to visit Yoram's mother in Carmiel in the evening, but we realised that we had had enough for one day and that she will have to wait. We will go to her on Rosh HaShana anyway this week.

Very early this morning both of us suddenly woke up from the magical sound of rain. The nature is glimmering today, when 4 months of dust have been rinsed off the foliage. It only took me one summer season here to embrace rain as a precious gift, rather than a curse like in Sweden.

The sweetest drug of them all...

Sugar skulls make a suitable illustration

My man has gone from being a severe sugar addict to a complete health freak since he initiated his sugar-free month. He had a few kilos too much, nothing serious, but with a slow metabolism like his, we could both conclude that there was a point in naturalising his food intake before things went completely out of hand. I started previously by explaining to him that cutting sugar and other sweetened things would alone make a difference, but it was not until after a nice dinner conversation with some other influential friends that he suddenly became determined enough to do it.

He quit smoking one and a half year ago - by going cold turkey - after being a heavy smoker during his entire adult life, so when it comes to his character and determination after a decision like this, I am convinced of his super powers. So, he went cold turkey on the sugar! No chocolate, no candy, no sweet fruits, no sweetened drinks, no sweetened additives or sauces, and the toughest one of them all, no sugar in the coffee!

The taste of the coffee was the only thing that disturbed him during the first couple of days, but other than that I don't even think that he experienced much withdrawal symptoms. Common symptoms include headaches, cravings, fatigue, tremors, depression and anxiety. On the contrary, he felt better and better already from the beginning, and it did not take many days before he suddenly came home and explained to me how sweet stuff now did not appeal to him anymore. A guy at his work had treated his colleagues with a birthday cake, and to be polite Yoram said that he would taste a tiny bit, but the taste almost made him nauseous. He also started to sleep better and he looses kilo after kilo. One evening I made a salad of grated carrots and apples with some walnuts, and while preparing it I wanted to explain how nice that salad would be with cranberries - of course after his sugar-free months was over! I did not get further than to "when this month is over" before he interrupted me with the information that he probably never would go back to eating sugar ever again. Then I added that I merely talked about some dried cranberries, and then he calmed down.

We always buy Actimel in the small portion bottles, mostly for the kids. I can drink one now and then, but far from every day. For me Actimel is a functional food and not to be mixed-up with a regular yoghurt. The sugar content in Actimel makes the calories shoot sky high and a litre of Actimel contains almost 1000 kcal. One morning Yoram came out in the kitchen all excited and told me that he had read on the bottle and that he would never ever drink Actimel again. Well, hallelujah! Other than that, regular yoghurt also gives you healthy lacto-bacteria (without added sugar) so the whole thing is merely ruthless business as usual.

Before I moved here I never used sugar, ate cakes very rarely and the only candy I ingested was chocolate, mostly dark (less sweet) chocolate. Even as a kid I was no sugar addict. My parents never served me lemonade or soft drinks other than on special occasions, and we did not eat candy on a regular basis. However, me and my dad could easily cram a huge chocolate bar sometimes, but after that we had enough for a while. That was only occasional gluttony. I also remember how odd it felt when I came to my friends families and they constantly drank lemonade from sweet concentrates instead of water, which always has been my favourite drink. I was also always quite sensitive against too sweet things, especially early in the morning. While many people like sweet things for breakfast, like marmelade, müsli with a lot of sweet stuff in it, or sweet cereals, those things always made me feel nauseous.

With this background it is not difficult for me now when we exclude many things from the shopping list. It is rather a relief. It is not hard for Yoram either. He already got the taste of how a sugar-free body works and he wants more of that. It is tougher for the kids. They are right now getting used to not eating "dessert" (i.e. candy) after every meal. Where did the tradition Lördagsgodis (Saturday candy) disappear..?

Update: Galya supplied me with an excellent link to a text and two documentaries about sugar, the politics surrounding it, and the effects of sugar on the body and mind.

Family bimbo and my friend

Enjoying the sweet life together

A few days ago I suddenly realised that one of my dreams in life has come true, without me really acknowledging it until now. When I was a kid, my largest pet was a mouse named Norpan. My mother was allergic to fur animals, so dog or cat was out of the question. I compensated this by basically living in the horse stable from the age of six until the late teens, when other things claimed my attention. In the stable I expressed my love for animals, by taking care of horses, cats and dogs, and whatever else was around. Also during my adult life I have been a very active animal friend. I have worked with horse training during several periods, and I have also required a thorough experience of dogs, their behaviour and training. Among other things, a good friend of mine is a dog psychologist and during a long period I spent days in and days out together with her and her dogs. I assisted her in different courses she gave, and I owe a great deal of my dog knowledge to her. However, I was never in a life situation where I had the possibility to get a dog of my own and I always felt that there was something that was lacking. Although that I frequently have been the extra mummy to numerous dogs, it will never be the same as having one of your own, because the last word on how to shape the dog is always someone else's.

Then I moved down here and within weeks we also took Goshen in to our home and I think that my own acclimatisation process laid a shadow over the fact that I all of a sudden became the #1 mummy for this wonderful dog. She was the family member that suffered the most from the separation and she was heavily burdened with stress-related skin disorders and emotional depression. Despite the vet's prognosis of a slow recovery, it did not take many weeks before she was like a brand new dog, both on the inside, as well as on the outside. Goshen is seven years old, but when we took her in she looked like seventeen! Now she is behaving like a happy-go-lucky puppy and I expect to keep her for many years to come. Today she is my dog. With a few exceptions, I am the one that feeds her, walks her, trains her and pampers her with affection, and she follows me where ever I go. I have expanded Yoram's perception of whereto you can bring your dog, and nowadays we bring her almost everywhere. In her former life she was always left at home, constituting the house alarm. That's no life for a family member.

Goshen is a pure show-line German Shepherd, which means that she is bred primarily for her looks rather than for her performance abilities and we sometimes joke about her as being the bimbo in the family. She is also a grown-up dog, who has spent years without perfect obedience, but nevertheless I have achieved great improvement in her attentiveness when we are working and Yoram has looked quite happy when he lately has asked her to heel for him. All my achievements are required without using a leash, but only clicker and positive reinforcement, and this is not what he was used to. Goshen was originally trained with old-school methods involving constant correction by checking on the choke collar and that is simply not something I approve of. Goshen is the first dog that is really my own and with her I can experiment and find consistency in my approach. The day she will not be with us any more I will be well prepared for taking a puppy and then it is time for a working-line Shepherd...

Clicker training taught her how to drive the car ;)

Wannabe coffee

Real coffee

One thing I just cannot stand with Israel is the instant-coffee culture. Arriving from Sweden - a genuine coffee country - where you can get all kinds of coffee out of the best quality, it was with frustration I realised that whenever someone here in Israel offers you a cup of coffee, what you get is a cup of boiling-hot, bitter and oxidised something-not-worthy-of-the-name coffee. Also my beloved man resided in this swamp. Nowadays we have two moka pots in the house and in the mall in Alonim there is a shop that sells freshly grounded coffee, tea, spices and special kitchen utensils. Besides espresso we also frequently make mud coffee from Arab coffee with cardamon, but this is of course an invention that the Israeli Jews cannot brag with being responsible for. Yoram still drinks instant when I am not there to offer him a real coffee, but I am slowly trying to make him aware of what the instant coffee really is made of. Not only is the taste ghastly. It is the lowest quality of beans and left-overs that are being used, and sometimes other unwanted residues from the harvest are also included in the production process. Also most of the health-beneficial substances you find in fresh coffee has long gone degraded in the instant coffee. Basically it is like being left with the baking paper and some crumbs when someone else ate the whole cake.