Idan and I return to the spot of my first trip to Puerto Rico. The restaurant at Numero Uno. I can’t even recall when I first came to this location! this time around I had one of the best meals I have ever had, all on this romantic stretch of beach under the stars with the waves quietly crashing in the background.

Sitting in the room sipping rum and coke. Ah…La Isla De Encanto.

I am not 100% certain of the origin of the magical dish known as shakshuka! I am told it means mixed up in Arabic and its prevalence in Israel has something to do with the influx of Jews from Arabs lands.

I am told it is made from roasted peppers of various kinds, tomatoes and spices reduced down to make a sauce that is then cooked with eggs and eaten with bread. This is at least how Idan makes it!

I sometimes crave it, despite me dislike of tomatoes. When looking for a proper recipe I found this funny article that sums up why I might be a bit confused:

What he intended to make, he said, was shakshuka.

Almost instantly, a flurry of sighs and grunts rose to the air.

“A Greek? Making shakshuka?” said Tzachi, a short and temperamental man with warm brown eyes and a hairy chest. “Please, that’s Moroccan food, leave it to us.”

“Moroccan?” came a voice from the other end of the tent. “How dare you, punk?” It was Danny, and he wasn’t happy. Shakshuka, he said, originated from Tripoli, and was brought to Israel by Libyan Jews. Greeks and Moroccans, he said, have no right to claim it.

As you can see just about any culture that naturally has these ingredients seems to have come up with a variant or localized version of the dish. Selective pressure in action!

Another fun Dor Chadash event. Idan and I went to Symphony Space to see and hear them perform. Now I admit I have almost no cultural context to properly place these people within. However, I am guessing from Idan’s comments and from the reaction of the audience that they represent cultural or musical superstars in Israel. I am struggling to think of an American equivalent. Maybe the Beatles or ??? Either way, there was one song where the singer started to sing and the audience knew all the words. For several verses the band played on while the audience sang the song.

I have a feeling I was one of 15 non-Hebrew/non-Israeli people there because most of the time I was struggling to get a word here or there. I figured out they were making a joke about the weather and that one song was about a dog and some pants and boots.

It was a fun evening and Idan seemed to enjoying 2 hours of feeling like he was
home in Israel.

I get the feeling I am out of the prime target audience for Dor Chadash, but their events are nonetheless enjoyable. I think this makes 4 I have been to in the last year.

I don’t know if you can see what this is an image of. But it is a very cute photo of Idan and I out one night that he took with him to Israel and had made into stamps. In Hebrew they say to love (and some stuff about being for internal mail only). He told me he found something for me in Israel that I would love but wouldn’t tell me anything about it. Then this arrived in mail tonight.

Idan gets that fact that his time and love are worth more than anything. When he does pull off a surprise it is usually something like this: ridiculously thoughtful and nice!!! He also made me a frame of all kinds of photos of us together and wrote me a nice poem as a good bye note when we parted ways the first time.

This is Idan in Mexico. He was traveling around down there and I flew in to spend a long weekend hiding from a hurricane. It was something that I don’t want to do again, but in classic Idan style “If we survive this, it is kind of romantic,” he said as he fell asleep.

I also have this wonderful photo from about 6am on top of Masada. He hates it because he looks Arab in it, which he kind of does, but hey he is, kind of.

I do not need to go into too many more detail about Idan, my normal readers will know him for his wicked smile and sarcastic charm. Oh and the Israeli accent!

I admit I know almost nothing about Arabs and the Arab world. My perspective is unrecoverably linked to the Israeli-Terrorist conflict, 9/11 and beyond. My interactions with Arabs have been limited either “westernized” ones and pleasant or in Israel and Jordan where they were not unpleasant but not exactly feel-good either.

In realizing that a larger than I had imagined section of the world Jewry is indeed Arab extracted, if not Arab and in am effort to try to move past my own preconceived notions and stereotypes I have tried to read more about Arab history, culture and arts. As well as experience more Arab things.

To this end, I asked Idan to bring me back from more traditional Arab and Mizrahi/Sephardic music. He brought me some great CDs. One of which is an artist named Umm Kulthum-أم كلثوم. She is no less than one of the most famous people in the world, but I have never heard of her. With a funeral attended by no less than 4 million people and a career spanning decades I have no idea how I missed learning about someone of such prominence! I am currently listening to her song Enta Omri - You Are My Life. Some of the lyrics:

With your light, the dawn of my life started.
How much of my life before you was lost.
It is a wasted past, my love.
My heart never saw happiness before you.
My heart never saw anything in life other than the taste of pain and suffering.

It has to be one of the most stunning songs I have ever read! It is not a song it is a true poem. All I can say is WOW!

I am huge fan of the books, clothing and accessories from DPMHI and all the related brands. The most impressive product is the compendium of DPM - disruptive pattern material. From the Kubriks to the t-shirts they have come up with some pretty cool camo patterns.

For this season I got a couple cool t-shirts and Idan a new hoodie along with this super cool Panerai knock off. It is matte black stainless with a skeleton back exposing a Chinese made automatic movement. The band is thick leather with a matching matte metal clasp. The only complaint I have is that lockdown mechanism is a little flimsy.

Ellie My Siberian Husky

The name of this blog comes directly from my attempts at learning Hebrew. Nearly the first thing I learned to say was “The dog jumps.” It became a running joke amongst friends. But as you can see, I have a dog, who can jump, so it is kind of even sorta more funny…ANYWAY…here are some facts about me:

• Grew up in Maine
• Moved to NYC to go to Columbia Grad School - which I hated - you can read about what the lab does.
• Left school and started working for internet companies - some small startups, Toys R Us.com before they sold out to Amazon.com, then for the airlines, Chuck Schwab, and now I work for a big publisher in “The City”.
• I have a lot of experience with computers, but please do not ask me to help you with Windows because my answer will be “Buy a Mac.”
• Into my saltwater tank, riding my Ducati, playing with Ellie & Blue (my sister’s smelly black lab)
• Enjoy traveling
• I have lots of random thoughts, like people should walk on their own side of the side walk, current fashion trends are abysmal, Louis Vuitton used to be classy now it is trashy, people who stand on the bus should be let off first because they have been standing the whole time, revolving doors are irritating, RFID is not the end of the all security forever, credit card companies are seriously predatory and the government should do something about it, Bush is an idiot, Gore has emerged as an elder statesman, marriage is a sham to allow women to take everything from men, post-feminism may just have it right, being Jewish is a wonder not a chore, and so many many many more.
• Family: Pretty much, Adam and my Father, Kent along with my Aunt’s and their families. I have a few other relatives that I am not in touch with, mostly due to internecine battles on both sides. Who knows why my Mother’s brother and sister have not been heard from in 25 years? It all gets so boring after a while.

Idan and I went to see Ivri Lider at Avalon. The concert was pretty amazing. He is a very entertaining performer. But the funniest person on stage is truly the drummer!

In Talmudic times people would use sharp edged stones to remove fecal material from the rectal area after defecation. And in typical form, there is a discussion in the Talmud about the size and number of the stone one is allowed to carry on Shabbat. I am not a fan of paper, as my brother Adam put it once, “The person who suggested we use paper must not have any hair on his body.” More than a few Tablemans shower after this decontamination process. Paper may not be perfect, but stones? Yikes!

I am reminded of a very tired Nathan standing at the Jordanian border! I passed the check point and had to pee. When I went into the bathroom I saw spray nozzles coming out of the wall. They were exactly like the ones we have on our kitchen sinks here in the US. Very tired, I thought to myself, wow what a great way to clean the bathrooms, just spray it all down. That was until later that night when Idan pointed out that those were in lieu of paper!