Light show

Light show on City Wall

 It's the 2nd last day of the jewish feast of Hanukkah. The City is alight with giant hanukiot (9 branch candle stands) to commemorate the miraculous pot of oil that burned for 8 days during the Maccabee revolt. Crowds of jews come to visit the Old City during this holiday season as schools close for a week. Local tour guides take advantage of this by leading hebrew speaking tours around the country since foreigner groups are forbidden from entering the country during this Omicron pandemic.

The weather continues to be chilly. But it's not raining as much as we want. Let's pray for more rain.

The other day a couple of jewish settlers drove mistakenly into the heart of a palestinian city. Their car was lynched but they were unhurt. Palestinian police protected them and escorted them out to the border. You won't read about this in the international news.

Giant hanukkah at Jaffa Gate

But what you probably read was this: Tel Aviv has become the most expensive city in the world to live in. It beat Singapore and Hong Kong, which came in 2nd and 4th respectively. The high cost of living is palpable and affects everyone and everything. Everytime I think of buying something, there's an internal dialogue in my mind that goes: Do I really need it? Is it worth buying it? Would anything change if I didn't buy it? Then 90% of the time, I'll not buy it. It's a great money saving device - self questioning.

I'm feeling better today because I've started a course of prednesone. It almost immediately ends the asthma, wheezing, and other pains. But the side effects are awful. Depression, hallucinations, suicidal thoughts. It's not the first time I've undergone prednesone treatment, so I know what to expect. Believe me, it's awful but the benefits of living without pain and discomfort makes me undergo it ... yesterday night I managed to sleep 5 hours without waking up choking, wheezing or pain.