Laughing

Went to a movie premiere tonight - a benefit and the opening of a new short film about the comedy of Yisrael Campbell. A member of Shira Hadasha, I know him through Jess, of course, and often see him about the neighborhood. Check out his videos - make sure to catch the famous Hannukah candle riff. The good news for some of you is that he'll be in the US next year and I hereby recommend that Kane St book the film and Yisrael for the Film Festival next year. You won't regret it. What's cool is the way he talks about his life and his Jewish journey (he was born Chris Campbell in suburban Philly) and Israel.

I had been a long hard day that had started with the difficult read through of the newspaper following yesterday's 'drive by bulldozing' on Yaffo. Sarah called my mother today from camp - she'd heard in camp but in camp news feels a billion miles away and she just wasn't sure that she'd heard right, 'a bulldozer?' Ira's co-worker, Dave, said that actually the machine in question is a 'loader.' His expertise comes after years of study with his 2 young kids. The papers were filled with all the lurid details - the baby saved from the car. The young mother, unable to be rescued...crushed. Her baby, after years of IVF treatment, will grow up motherless. The 2 others, killed, the people on the bus and street who were injured. No names jumped for me but I'm still new here but when I went to the movie tonight, I was chatting with friend Esther Abramowitz (Jess's longtime buddy) and turns out she was at the funeral today of the gentleman killed - the father of a co-worker. She said it was intensely sad. The young mother? From a well-known local family and a few people had a connection to a cousin through Shira Hadasha. At moments like this, Jerusalem is a small town.

After the movie, we strolled down Emek Refaim - it was hopping with USY'ers and other kids, Israeli and American, engaging in mating rituals. We got a sorbet and walked back to the car, enjoying the cool night breeze. Life - continuing as it should.