Holy Land, here I come!

Finally! At last – like Etta James would sing – I've got flights booked to Israel. This summer in Finland has been quite balmy to us near the Arctic Circle but I'm the kind of girl who needs minimum +28C to start wearing skirts and shorts to call it a real summer. To reach these degrees, we Northerners usually have no other choice but to hit the South. The temperatures in Tel Aviv seem to bounce nicely between +25C and +30something C, and I especially look forward to those warm evenings and nights when you don't need to carry a sweater and gloves with you "just in case it gets chilly".

I am quite prepared: got some shekels, sunscreen and Crocs waiting to hit the heat. I recently purchased my first-ever pair of Crocs even though I previously had sworn off those hideous clumsy plastic things. But then I was tipped off by a friend and I came across this pretty pair that swooned my picky feet - and we've been walking on air together ever since (love at first step). I've been told that Crocs are somewhat of a national attire in Israel so now I will fit in nicely!

I've never really experienced the lovely sea and beaches or the Dead Sea in Israel. The only swim I have taken there was a hasty dip in the Genesaret, so this time around I am hoping for more. Contemplating a swim means, though, daring the horrors of wearing a bikini... I'm thinking the mud at the Dead Sea would cover nicely all the screaming white, wobbly bits that I am not proud of, so maybe I should opt for that? Panic preparations for the bikini problems have started: I've booked an appointment for ultrasound fat removal procedure next Tuesday. And ran 2km last Tuesday. Desperate? Yes. Will it help? No. But there is no harm in trying is there...

I was determined to book the flights with Finnair in order to commemorate the fact they opened this seasonal route just this year when I'm in first need of this connection. Apparently it is quite a popular one as I could only get my return ticket with the familiar blue & white wings. To make things a tad more interesting, I've booked a kosher meal for my return flight. I am curious to see & taste how a Finnish airline goes kosher!

Need to struggle at work for a little more, and then I can call it a h-o-l-i-d-a-y!

Saving Private... Pictures

The IDF recruits - mainly the female ones - have made headlines a couple of times by posting seductive photos of themselves in little clothing accessorized with rifles in the social media. Usually these photos have lead to disciplinary measures in the army, but never-the-less the ladies manages to show another side of, ehm, army life.

Probably one of the world's most useless polls, but The Sun magazine decided to find out which country has the sexiest female soldiers. I could have sworn Israel would have won this due to to recent activity in SoMe, but surprisingly, it was Romania who took home the 1st prize. Israel placed 6th, Finland 8th.

IDF's finest...

www.mirror.co.uk

...and a more humble Finn wearing "cucumber salad".

www.puolustusvoimat.fi

As you probably might know, military service is compulsory for both guys and girls in Israel. And we're not talking about a few months here. At its lowest, you can be done with your service in Finland in mere 165 days. In Israel, guys need to prepare for 3 years and girls for 2. This for teens finishing their high school might seem like an eternity. Finns at that age would be planning gap years and what not, while their Israeli counterparts prepare to endure military life for longer than in many other countries.

I've often wondered how lucky I am in that sense that my local army is not at all interested in my services. In Finland, women are in no way obliged to do military service but can voluntarily join. However, before doing so they need to go through e.g. a medical check to get approval. I have no friends who would have gone through this trouble...

Klezmofobia

Not too long ago, I was visiting a store with my boyfriend that sells all sorts of (unnecessary) low-priced knickknacks for home, parties and what not. I went in to buy a card for a wedding but saw at the cashier a bargain for a CD. Klezmofobia - Kartushnik, it said on the album cover.

Klezmer music, I exclaimed my eyes beaming and quickly picked up a copy to have a closer look. My boyfriend was rolling his eyes and said it wasn't klezmer. "What about these songs then?", I continued insistently, "Verdamte oy vei, Schlomo Ben Avram, Yiddishe Mame... Sounds pretty klezmerish to me!".

And I was right (as usual,you know). After purchasing the CD, at home I finally got - or should I say heard - a glimpse of klezmer music for mere 4,00 EUR. Klezmofobia is a band originating from Denmark, and the group has been together since 2004. They have won various awards in the local country, and Kartushnik is their 3rd album.

I've been meaning to go to a klezmer music jamming session at a cafe in Helsinki for a long time now but something always got in the way. Now, there's a summer break but hopefully they will start up again in autumn.

A little is known about the history of klezmer music. It originates from the Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews, and has taken influence from e.g. Romanian folk music. In late 1800s and early 1900s, a lot of the Jewish immigrants in the US caused klezmer music to form a fusion with jazz.

To me personally, the clarinet is a typical cue that you're tuning into klezmer music. I like how catchy the music is - without knowing it, your tapping to the rhythm with your foot or fingers.

Tune in for Klezmofobia, the band here!

Photo borrowed from klezmofobia.dk

Oy vey what an oil!

My love affair with Moroccan Oil continues... Now I've finally acquired a bottle of this nectar for thirsty hair home. It is a pricey product (125ml bottle costs about 50,00 EUR), but nothing beats the sensation, smell and feeling of soft hair after applying this magic substance.

After checking some prices, getting this good stuff directly from the source is more affordable. A 200ml bottle in Israel would leave me around 40,00 EUR poorer - but still give me twice as much of the oil. Needless to say, next time around I won't be carrying olive oli home from Israel but Moroccan Oil!

Picture borrowed from http://aroundthewaycurls.com

"Let G-d nobody see it again"

I have always been secretly jealous of the Americans. They all have such interesting backgrounds. Nearly everyone can list that their grandfather was Irish or grandmother was Italian, or how they are part Cherokee Indian, part Swedish, part German, or how their ancestors arrived in the new land on Mayflower.

The TV show "Who do you think you are" is an interesting deep-dive to the family roots of certain American celebrities. The episode I picked to write about here is the one of Lisa Kudrow and her great grandmother's fate in Belarus during the WWII.

I didn't even realize she was part Jewish. Somehow, it was Ross Geller (or David Schwimmer) and not Phoebe Buffay in the TV show Friends who stole the part of being Jewish :-).

The heading of this article is a direct, translated quote from the episode. It was said by an old Belarussian woman in the village of Ilya, how she testified the destiny of the Jews in the village. Trying to escape death at a human bonfire, a little girl tried to hide under the bed. A German officer spotted her and dragged her by force, only to shoot the child. "Let G-d nobody see it again", said the witness.

View the episode in full at the link below:
http://vimeo.com/21724326

Writer's block

Well, you finally did it. You were able to silence me. I have not updated this blog for a while since I have simply run out of things to write about!

My Hebrew classes are over for now, I haven't read any Judaism/WWII books lately, nor seen related movies, you know the story of Fafa's already, I visit the same foreign cities with the same Jewish museums (so no point in writing about them again), I haven't visited Israel for a whole year and I unfortunately missed anything "Jewish" going on in Helsinki - so I can't write about that either.

You probably are not interested in hearing about the miserable success both Israel and Finland had in the Eurovision Song Contest (although on behalf of the whole country I'd like to thank the Israeli voters for being one of the very few that even granted us points).

Someone once said no news is good news - so let's go with that. But I'm sure my inner typist will be triggered by some article or happening, sooner or later... Enjoy the spring! <3

Access denied

Marion Rung is a Finnish-Jewish singer (and therefore a celebrity here), and today an incident at the Jewish cemetary made headlines at a local tabloid. Marion's husband was denied access to the cemetary since he refused to put on a kippah.

It was the one year anniversary of Marion's mothers' death, and the tombstone was being revealed at the cemetary. Marion's husband Kalle Munck had worn a kippah at the funeral itself a year ago, but refused to put it on this time around. Therefore the Rabbi asked him not to join the others at the cemetary but to wait outside. Mr. Munck was offended and sad that he couldn't attend the ceremony and is going to make an official complaint about the incident to the ombudsman. Munck states he, as a atheist, refuses to wear any religious garments. He sees the wearing of the kippah only as a recommendation and the cemetary being maintained with tax payer's money - so wearing the tiny hat should be optional.

Needless to say, this guy was labeled as a jerk, idiot, childish etc. by the readers of the article in the comments section. I have to agree, he wears a kippah one year earlier and now refuses? How disrespectful for his wife and late mother-in-law, not to mention to make this kind of an issue a matter of law and publicity...

I was once denied access to the Vatican because the sleeves of my t-shirt were too short. For goodness sake, a Christian institution bans the visit of a fellow Christian because of clothes! Should I have pressed charges, too? Or what about Mt. Athos in Greece where no women are allowed to enter? That is discrimination, but you don't see any lawsuits around. What a jerk indeed. The Rabbi was right.

(Picture from wikimedia.org)

Read the article here in Finnish.