# change place change a mind



## shahar (Dec 15, 1999)

After growing tired of the biz and being about five years late for a vacation, I gave my resignation(actually didn't renew my chefing contract), gave up my apartment, donated most of my stuff, stored the rest and bought a plane ticket to visit my family and my baby niece.

In israel.

Little did I know. Now I spent few week in the golan heights. We can hear the low rumble of gun batteries shooting into lebanon and the occasional sharper explosions of incoming rockets.
Until today, the first day of cease fire, every time we tried to sneak out the alarms comes on again. Both as text messages and as sirens.
So far none(although the keep some information secret) has hit close than eight miles from us. Talk about stir crazy and add a bored one year old to the mix. We don't have a shelter but the house is built of reenforced concrete. Too many windows though. Ironicaly we probably would survive a direct hit and not a near miss.

The good side is my sister got a beatiful garden with about an acre of olive trees, ten different herbs and all sorts of vegetables and fruits.

Sad reality is when we pucker up and take the car somewhere we can see fields upon fields of unpicked produce rotting away. Even with the ceasefire, that no one believe will last, plus the fear that syria is going to take advantage and attack from the north east, the damages would last a long while.

Being an american chef I know people from all over the world. I have friends from beirut and I'm worried about their homes. Still in contrast to tv I can't feel like the evil we're portraied as. How would any other country, how would the united states, react if semi miliatary soldiers got across a border and kidnapped and killed military personal. How any country would react to missiles and rocket flying into civilian targets.
Israels PM said, and I agree, that when enemy citizens die for israel it's a tragic outcome of fighting enemy soldiers who hide in villages. To hizballah killing citizens is the target. Israel risks her own safety by warning all targets in advance to prevent that outcome.
People dying is always sad but when did the protection of your home against aggrassors became wrong for jews but ok for every body else.

Not meaning to get too political but being here changed my priorities immensly. What is a little more or less volume in a carrot foam compared to the life of my family and friends.

Check out the following link:

http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/mid...les_of_War.asp

also:

http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/med...ctivity/Photo_

Yes, they're biased but very truthull non the less.


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## anneke (Jan 5, 2001)

Thank you for sharing such an insightful post with us Shahar. I hope you and your family are safe. Cooking is something we do from the heart; right now, your heart is somewhere else and re-establishing priorities. Good on you to have been brave enough not to ignore that calling.


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## bork (Nov 27, 2005)

Shahar,

My family will ALWAYS pray for peace in Isreal. God bless you and your family during this difficult time.

BORK <><


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## shahar (Dec 15, 1999)

Thanks dudes and dudettes for your concerns and prayers.

Things are calming down. Nobody believes the ceasefire will hold but we can get on with our lives again. I'm planning on coming back to the states and start working on new projects real soon(any body got a feeler on a philly job out there?).

A boy from my village died when his tank was blown up. 20 yo. Just thinking of his grandfather. This guy lived two years in the sewers in poland hiding from the germens. Fought in two israeli wars and now this.
The funural was held in the middle of the night(they shoot less rockets at night time). Surreal and heartbraking.

Now that I'm out I can see all the crash sites everywhere. But now's the time to rebuild and start working towards that ever elusive peace.

On a good note Adam Sandlar(who I still don't like as an actor) donated 400 playstations to kids in the war zone.

Hope I didn't bum any body out.

See ya'll back real soon


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Bum _us_ out?

They don't call the Israeli National Anthem "HaTikvah" (The Hope) for nothing....


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