Gilad Shalit

Happy Sukkot!

How are you guys? If you asked me that, I might write a 10 page essay, but I do want to share some thoughts and opinions. As you can see, my title is Gilad Shalit. Gilad Shalit was kidnapped and held in captivity for 5 years and 4 months - exactly 1,941 days. And he came back yesterday. There is a lot of talk and emotional feeling connected to this subject, good and bad. Israel freed 477 terrorists on the first stage, which was yesterday too. Another 500 are getting out on the next stage. Some of those terrorists have blood on their hands and are responsible for the death of several people. There are several different opinions about the situation, and I think they all have a point. One opinion is that yes, we are happy that Gilad is coming home, but think about it, 1027 terrorists are getting out and are going to kill more people! Another opinion is saying that we need him to come home, and we CANNOT be annoyed or angry at Noam and Aviva Shalit (Gilad's parents) for putting so much pressure on the government and making this a public issue because any parent who was in their same situation will be doing the same exact thing.

Those both are not my opinions. My opinion about this is more similar to the second than the first, that I would the same thing as Gilad's parents if I was in their situation, but I have another point: I have complete faith in the government and the army that they are making the best decision for the country. I believe that they would never ever make an irrational decision, especially on something so big.

Yesterday morning, I was sitting by the computer, on ynet.co.il, and I was watching live what was going on. At that point Gilad was handed over from the Hamas to the Egyptians. The first glimpse of Gilad after the video that was released of him a couple years ago was out, and I saw him getting out of a car and being led somewhere. Afterwards, Gilad was brought to a place by the border of Egypt and Israel, in Israel, where he was handed over to the army. He was flown in a helicopter to a place to get some medical check-ups and then flown to where the Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, The Head of the Joint Cheif of Staff - Gantz, Ehud Barak and, of course his parents, his grandfather, his brother and sister and his brother's girlfriend. Afterwords he was flown to his home, had dinner and probably took a shower, got into his favorite pajamas and went to his sleep with his mother by him. I want to say here that there are many things that happened yesterday that I didn't mention but are very important and I recommend that you do some research.

Gilad was very pale and didn't look very good, but he was walking and he could stand up. While the Egyptians were leading him, they were rough with him, pushing him, but the second he was interacting with Israelis, the Israelis were hugging him, helping him - this all I saw on the internet. Everyone in the country is so happy that he's home! When Gilad was getting off the helicopter, and the Prime Minister was waiting, Gilad saluted him, shaked his hand and the Prime Minister hugged him, and led him to his father. While Gilad was hugging his father, you see the Prime Minister that is tearing up.

This is a historic event and I will remember this forever.

Chag sameach everyone!

The BIG question

What do you think is the most asked question in the history of childhood? I know! What do you want to be when your older? Very good question, right? I get asked that question a lot, also from myself. I somehow always knew that I wanted to work with people. I just couldn't see myself sitting in a lab making things go BOOM! Then, while I was talking to Yosef, having a sach"nash, he said, you want to be like Grandpa Saul when you grow up, right? And then, BAM! It is soooo clear to me now, that I want to by like Grandpa Saul (a psychiatrist), to HELP people, like a therapist or a psychologist.
There is a new word in Adina Hershberg's vocabulary, and that is sach"nash, and it is the ultimate Adina word. Sach"nash, is in Hebrew and it stands for sichat nefesh, which literally means in English a soul talk. Two nights ago, I was having one of those 'my life is horrible' moods, and I had an hour and a half talk to my friend about how life isn't fair and what music my friend has been listening to lately. I always wish I have a bigger phone package on my phone so I can talk to people also while I am on the bus, taking a walk etc. I just like talking. I will add it to the long hobby list of mine!
OK, Facebook. Every year, in my school, they have a whole month where they talk about Facebook and the internet. So, a couple things I noticed along the way: the had a speaker come to speak to us about how Facebook is bad, and guess what, that guy had Facebook! The school is always saying how Facebook is a waste of time, and how it isn't recommended, and then, you check on Facebook, and you see that my school has a Facebook page! Get out of here! So, now, I am here to give my opinion on Facebook. OK, fine, I don't really have an opinion, but what I do hate is that there is SOOO much negativity around it! Yes, it could be dangerous, and yes I've had friend requests from people I have never heard of and yes, Facebook can be addicting, but seriously, what did I do in my last reincarnation to make sit through boring speeches and class discussions about Facebook? I think that the reason that so many underage (legally, you need to be 13 to have FB) kids have Facebook is BECAUSE people make such a big deal about it. I know that it is important to know the dangers, and it is important to be careful, but puh-lease... That was my rant of the day. Thank you.
Have a good day!

Thoughts...

As I get older, I have the ability to learn more in two ways: 1. Things that once were 'when your older you'll understand' and 2. Being older, more mature and noticing and learning things on my own.
The past couple of years, I've come to realize just how messed up the world is, and how the world that we live can be cruel in many ways. How did I come to notice this? I read books, went through situations, had friends who went through situations and did research. First, books. These two books gave me a lasting impression - '13 Reasons Why' by Jay Asher and 'Someone to Run With' by David Grossman. If you haven't read these books, I'll summarize it in a couple of lines.
'13 Reasons Why' by Jay Asher. Wow. Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list. Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers..
This book left me crying, shocked and scared of the huge power words have. It made me realize that high school is just an opportunity, other than learning but to crush someone down. Down to the extent that someone is ready to die.

'Someone to Run With' by David Grossman. My heart was beating so hard when I finished it. Set in Jerusalem Israel in the late '90s [ish] Assaf is home alone for a while while his parents visit his sister in America. He gets hooked into the mystery of the story when he meets a stray yellow Labrador retriever. At the same time, on the other side of the city, Tamar is singing for her life on the streets of Jerusalem, trying to rescue her drug addicted brother from the seedy and seething underworld of Jerusalem.
Drugs, homelessness, theft,  in my favorite city in the whole entire world. And it's there. Everywhere. 


What do these books have to do with anything? It makes me want to change it. When I was in English class, and we were having one of those goofy discussions about what your goals are, I raised my hand, and said seriously 'to make the world a better place'. If you live in a place where everything is cupcakes and sunshine, I will personally come to you with a something sharp and pop your bubble. Living with this in someone's head can make them go crazy, and I don't think about that. I think about the difference I can make.
Trust me, it drives me CRAZY that my friends are stuffing themselves with things that are making their life unhealthier and getting fatter. I sort of realized that I just need to do it myself, to shine, and to show them, instead of  trying to convince them to try my tofu salad.
Ok, I need to go and give the computer to someone, so goodbye for now!