Farewell Tour

46 days till departure

I’ve recently ramped up my social schedule in order to touch base with all my friends before leaving. There’s a priority on those with whom there’s been less contact in recent times. Everyone deserves a farewell in person. It also increases the likelihood that they’ll come to my farewell party on March 23. Dear Readers: please note the date in your calendar and consider yourself invited.

It already feels like I’m traveling, in a way. I didn’t bother with any errands or chores this weekend, except for a polio inoculation, and my second of three shots for Japanese encephalitis. I just hit the open road, also in a type of farewell bid to my beloved Mazda 6, helpfully provided by Attunity. My first stop was to Noa, who was part of my first group of friends when I first arrived in Tel Aviv seven years ago. We referred to ourselves as the Mishpukhe Kookoo, and we did nearly everything together, including a crazy trip to Sinai with five of us in Liora’s 1989 Peugeot 205, plus the dog Shelly, who found a new home among the Bedouins as a result. Fast forward to today, and Noa now has her own successful architectural practice as well as two adorable toddlers. A special bonus was seeing Yoni, Noa’s brother, with whom I traveled in Goa on my last trip to India.

From there, I went to spend Shabbat with my friends from Brazil, Tali and Avram, who, for inexplicable reasons of their own, now live in an illegal outpost in the West Bank settlement block of Gush Etzion. These are old friends of mine; we went to the same crazy Chabad synagogue on Sao Paulo’s Avenida August back in the mid 90s. And we’ve been close friends ever since. They are what I would call Modern Orthodox, with a strong emphasis on the modern.

In the event, I got stuck for two hours in a heinous traffic jam on the way, and nearly ran out of gas. As it turns out, they are changing the (bypass) road because of accelerated construction of the euphemistically named Security Barrier.

Folks on the extreme Left and Right are against the barrier. The Left hates it because it puts Palestinians in a pen, further exacerbated the hardships brought on by the IDF’s cantonization of the West Bank. The Right hates it because, with adjustments, this is going to be the border of a putative Palestinian state, if our neighbors can ever get their act together enough to put their house in order, sit down at the negotiating table, and make an updated version of the deal that the world community has been inching towards since 1947. A real state. Not the failed state that would be stillborn now if it came into being.

The vast and sensible majority in Israel realizes that the barrier has the dual advantages (for us) of effectively keeping out suicide bombers and drawing a border etched by extensive Supreme Court rulings.

Thank heavens for the Israeli Supreme Court. It is the last solid pillar of our democracy. That’s probably why the extreme Right vilifies it. It has been a reliable bulwark against a Halakic Republic. What’s more, it is responsible for some of the Western world’s most progressive rulings and precedents on all manner of issues. Whatever you think of Israel, you have to admire the Supreme Court. So it is reasonable that if anyone draws pre-negotiation borders, it should be this venerable institution.

Nevertheless, seeing that eight-meter high wall with its watchtowers snake across the landscape is daunting, to say the least.

Tali and Avram’s children are adorably affectionate, and we had good food and good conversation in the spirit of Beit Chabad na Augusta. I’ve always prided myself on the variety of ideologies and worldviews held by friends of mine, even and especially when they theoretically clash with my own deeply held opinions. My view is that I don’t care what your opinion is, as long as you have one. Peace comes when we see the human beings beyond the espoused lifestyles and opinions. True to form, we managed to get onto the topic of homosexuality and Judaism, and a spirited discussion ensued.

Tali’s basic argument was premised on the idea that sexual orientation is somehow volitional, i.e. you make a conscious choice. Even if it is difficult, and you’re confused or willfully sitting on the fence, so to speak, you should endeavor to marry and have children as per Jewish law and tradition. I emphasized that sexual orientation is in no way volitional. How could it be? Who in their right mind would choose to be gay? You face rejection from your family, friends and society, not to mention the task of resocializing yourself to accept a worldview that is fundamentally opposed to everything you were brought up to think and believe. Show me one person who would consciously make such a decision.

Rather, it exists in nature as part of the evolutionary process. As proof, it is far more prevalent in the animal kingdom than most people would care to realize. This was new to her, and so this morning, I did a quick search on Google, and netted the following sites of interest to support my claim, to wit:

• National Geographic
• BBC
• “Crime Against Nature”
• The Gay Animal Kingdom

In any case, it was a lovely weekend, full of fruitful discussions, joyful children, and good cooking all around. The primary motivation for this upcoming sojourn in India came back to me. When released from underneath the weight of responsibilities regarding home, career, finances, staying in shape, and other such burdens of the rat race, you have time not only to enjoy yourself, but to see your own true objectives more clearly. What are we here for anyway? Just to work and pay off the mortgage? I hardly think so.

Ultimately, my dream is to be on the perfect tropical island, without a financial care in the world, so I can enjoy the surroundings and fire off these cyber-rants to you, my beloved readers. My only hope is that you will enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing them.

To get from A to B is no trivial feat. Short of miraculously striking it rich, I have no choice but to slog it out in hi-tech to hopefully get to the point where I can do exactly what I’m going to do this coming year. Of course I’d like to do this forever. Wouldn’t we all? But my head says that it would be unwise to mortgage the quality of the aforesaid dream. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to wait another thirty years to have even just a taste of it.

This year will be the spiritual preparation for hitting the ground running and taking my hi-tech career to the next level to make that cold hard cash to reach that Ultimate Island sooner rather than later. Life is too short to do it any other way.