The Origins of This Blog

I was born in Israel.  My memories of childhood are warm and comforting.  The Israel of my childhood was a young country, with few amenities, but rich in tradition, industry and hope.  The little town where I grew up was primitive by today's standards, yet I wanted for nothing.  Only the main road was paved because there were so few cars in those days.  As a consequence, the children were free to run barefoot in the sand, climb trees and otherwise frolick with abandon in the fields.  Indeed, the fields were strewn with wildflowers, especially the brilliant poppies which would be like a red blanket upon the earth, stretching as far as the eye could see.  I remember my grandfather's garden with the fruit trees that he would tend lovingly, and which would produce such a rich abundance of plump fruit every season that we would share with our neighbors.  Life was sweet and simple in those days.  Our neighbors were our friends, and would drop by throughout the day for a chat or a cold lemonade.  We were not encumbered by televisions or air conditioning, pleasures which I now find somehow indispensable, but it was that very austerity that encouraged such friendliness among the neighborhood.

My schooling began in Israel, and continued in France and the United States, with each venue imparting its own riches.  The first day of school in Israel, the children were all dressed in their best, and I wore a white frilly white dress with soft yellow, pink and green flowers that made me feel like a princess.  I almost didn't want to sit down!  School was a joyous place for me.  The curriculum in those days included one hour of "agriculture" each day, with each child being allotted a small plot in the garden that he would till and cultivate, where he would plant seeds and water and weed and watch those seeds sprout and grow.  It was one hour of sheer bliss and immense joy as the children giggled and frolicked while getting messy in the mud.  I loved that hour in the garden, having to negotiate the hoes and rakes that were twice my size.  But much as I loved tending my little plot of land, I also had a phobia of caterpillars which the children took great pleasure in taunting me with.

The curriculum in elementary school in Israel also included daily study of the stories of the Bible, more specifically, the Old Testament.  In Israel, the Bible is deemed not so much a religious book as a historical document, and I loved the stories of Adam and Eve, the pharaos, Moses, David, and all the characters that came to life in the world of a 6-, 7- and 8-year-old little girl.  What were lavish stories to a child have become an intellectual curiosity and fascination to the adult.  I give credit to a gentleman by the name of Jonathan Kirsch who wrote The Harlot By The Side Of The Road, a book that reverently dissects stories from the Bible, and translates them into contemporary understanding.  I admire that book, and admire his intellect.

I recently gave a speech which is the namesake of this blog, "The Seven and Seven," where I discussed the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Heavenly Virtues.  It was the response from the audience that provoked me to begin this blog.