Last January, almost one year ago, the city of Jerusalem experienced the largest snowfall in over 20 years. Last night the snow began falling again. Nothing is more beautiful than a snowy white Jerusalem. Snow already has hit the Golan in the north and the mountains of the Negev Desert in the south. I live in Rehovot, southeast of Tel Aviv, northwest of Jerusalem. We won't get snow here, just the high winds, thunderstorms, flooding, and what is expected to be the coldest winter in a long time.
So far the expected heavy rains in Rehovot are light, the pitter-patter of the drops making music as they hit my air conditioner unit outside my window. For a short while this morning the sun was actually shining. Every time the wind blows, my windows rattle so much I have to check around me to make sure there is no earthquake or low flying jets above me.
Because my body temperature is lower than normal, I always feel hot. I have been known to walk through snow in New York with just a light sweater while everyone else is bundled up in boots, mittens and heavy coats. My air conditioner in Israel is usually running 24/7. Recently, I turned it off. I do not need my air conditioner today because my apartment is colder than the freezer section of my refrigerator. My apartment is unusually cool because the cold outside air seeps through the single-paned windows. There is no apartment under mine to insulate me. Who would have thought I would be huddled under my blankets, with a fleece hooded sweater zipped over my heavy bathrobe, covering the knit cap on my head. Yet I am still freezing, my nose the only thing exposed and red like Rudolph the reindeer's!
Tile Floors – Yes or No?
Since most of the year the weather in Israel is hot and humid, apartments and homes are built from concrete, cement and stone. Allegedly this type of construction makes for a cooler and more comfortable temperature in the home. When winter comes, it adds to the frigidness of the dwelling. The floors are covered in tile, and wall-to-wall carpeting is unusual. I only know two people in Rehovot who have it. The rest of my friends have tile floors covered with an occasional throw rug in front of the sofa or under the dining room table. An Israeli friend told me of her childhood, before air conditioners came to her neighborhood. She and her siblings would lie down on the cold tile floors to cool off from the hot summer days.
Israel is quite informal. Because on Shabbat we cannot drive and often we must walk distances to the homes of our friends, it is not unusual for good friends to accept a Shabbat lunch or dinner invitation with their attendance conditioned upon whether the weather permits. It is not exactly a polite thing to do, and it can be quite disappointing to a hostess who has spent hours preparing a sumptuous meal for her guests only to find she has no guests. Thankfully, some of my friends have been known to wade through rivers of water and risk heat stroke to eat at my table. Once I made my way to a friend's home through flooded streets and a thunderstorm only to arrive at my destination drenched. Even the towels my friend placed on my dining room chair could not absorb all the water dripping from my clothes.
Living in Israel means dripping all year round. Either it is from the rain or the humidity. Sometimes I feel as though I have become one big drip. However, the definition of a drip is a weak and ineffectual person, a bore, a ninny, a wimp, a wuss. I hope that does not describe me.
L'hitraot. Shachar
