Traveling in a Confused World
What if someone would tell you, that despite your best intentions, you can’t claim to lead a moral life? That even though you don’t harm others, you keep your promises, you don’t cheat or lie, you support your children and elderly parents and maybe even volunteer in your community, your claim to a moral life is questionable? Continue reading “The Life You Can Save”
The biggest island in the Pacific ocean, east of New Zealand, Vancouver island is a world of abundant nature. After spending two days with friends in Victoria, the urban center of the island and provincial capital of British Columbia, we wanted to discover it firsthand. So we rented a car and headed north-west. Continue reading “Juan de Fuca and the Drama of the Pacific on the West Coast of Vancouver Island”
I am in a barber-shop to get a shave. Speaking with the owner, I find out he is originally from Fiji. I am at a playground, with Ayan, who plays with a girl his age. I start speaking with her father, who tells me that he came from Morocco about 10 years ago. My wife is at a drop-in center for parents and children, where she befriends a woman, who is there with her son. Her slavic accent discloses her – she is from Serbia. One of the assistants working in that center is from Argentina. The other one from Poland. This isn’t a promotional UN campaign. These are typical scenes from a daily life, here in Vancouver. Continue reading “Vancouver, A City That Shows How Multiculturalism Is Done”
Last Saturday, as usual for Saturdays, I took my son to my parents home. We had lunch consisting of mashed potatoes and meat cutlets – the staple dishes in my parents’ Russian cuisine. My dad read a couple of children books to Ayan. My mom reminded me of my commitments the next week and worried that I don’t exercise enough. All as usual. The same familial ritual that occurred hundreds of time before. But something was different. I wasn’t in a hurry. As a matter of fact, I wanted to stay longer. Continue reading “How Leaving Home Awakened Me To What I Missed All These Years”
Most tourists visiting Israel don’t know about it. Hell, many Israelis haven’t heard of it. But the Mar Saba monastery in the Judaean desert, less than 15 km from Jerusalem, is an incredible sight. Being one of the first monasteries in the history of Christianity, continually occupied for over 1500 years, it’s an important pilgrimage site for Christian Orthodox. For everyone else, it’s a Middle-Eastern citadel straight from the fantasy books. Continue reading “Mar Saba Monastery, Another Middle East Site You Must See Before You Die”
Jabal Haroun (mountain Aaron) is a holy site for all Abrahamic religions, venerated by Jews, Christians and Muslims as the resting place of Aaron, brother of Moses. It’s also the highest mountain of Petra. A strenuous 20 km trek up the mountain and back to Petra was waiting for us on the second day of our Petra trip. Continue reading “Petra – Day 2, In Which We Climb Jabal Haroun”
My score: 4.5 (out of 5) Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Pervert’s Guide to Ideology is a feast for anyone who loves cinema and philosophy. The presenter, Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, explains his ideas about the way ideology works through excerpts from well-known movies. His presence is vulgar and his language is explicit, but that’s a good thing. His favorite words are “as it were” and “obscene”. He uses expressions like “metaphysical niceties” and “excremental dimension”. Continue reading “Pervert’s Guide to Ideology (2012)”
About two years ago, my father started writing a memoir. Being an action-oriented man, it’s a straightforward autobiography, filled with dates, locations and people, laid out in a chronological order. Memories of the significant events that shaped his life. Continue reading “Who Will Read My Father’s Memoirs?”
I’m an empty vessel. There is nothing inside me that is unique. My aspirations are ordinary for my generation. My views on life are shaped by the people around me. The closer I look at myself, the less I find. So who am I? Continue reading “We Are Empty Vessels”
A six-hour night bus to Eilat, crossing the border with Jordan, another two hours from Akaba to Wadi Musa. After a sleepless night, tired and preoccupied with life, I was hardly in a mood to be impressed with anything. But when after walking the great Siq (canyon) of Petra, I registered a glimpse of the famous Treasury facade among the high rocks, I couldn’t stay indifferent. This is was the most impressive thing I saw in the Middle East. Continue reading “Petra – Day 1, In Which I meet Jack the Sparrow”
The simple act of living in Israel has a heroic dimension to it. You have had rockets fly over you, you have lived through times when buses were exploding daily, you have served in the army, you know your children will. Islamism, terror, jihad are not just disturbing news from far away lands. It’s the crust of day-to-day life in Israel. Continue reading “The Evil of Heroism”
If someone would ask me how a city of the future would look like, I would suggest Toronto as a likely model. Not because of some futuristic architecture or hi-tech infrastructure – in that regards Hong-Kong and Seoul would surely have the upper hand. But more importantly, due to its incredible cultural and ethnic diversity. Continue reading “Toronto, the City that Has Been Expecting You”
The main street of the city of Niagara Falls, the one on the Canadian side of the famous falls, may seem as a scaled-down version of Las Vegas. A sparkling hub of neon signs, flashing lights, 3D, 4D and even 6D (!) entertainment complexes, diners and franchise restaurants that offer combo meals with supersizing options. Basically, everything that American entertainment industry is good at, condensed into one street. Affordable and accessible, no-nonsense, mass entertainment, packaged and sold to anyone who needs to lose his troubles away for a couple of hours. Continue reading “What An American Diner Has Taught Me About Authenticity”
My last post, in which I call for a new agenda for Israel (one that focuses more on being a great country for its citizens and less on being a Jewish state) has gathered a lot of comments on Facebook, and so I thought I should reply to one of the most popular arguments that have been voiced. Continue reading “If You Want To Live In a Great Country, Move to Australia”
One could say that I live in a country-free bubble. I don’t really care about Jewish holidays, I don’t observe Jewish traditions, I don’t listen to Israeli music, I don’t watch Israeli TV (or any TV at all for that matter). I have my family, my friends, my job, my volunteering. I watch Game of Thrones, read non-fiction in English and prose in Russian, get most of my news from Facebook, listen to electronic music on the Internet. Almost none of it is connected specifically to Israel. Continue reading “I Want To Love My Country Because It’s Great, Not Because It’s Mine”
