# 100 – Doda Mazal & the Olympics

September 18, 2008

The Luck of the Galilee died this morning.

Doda Mazal – Aunt Luck – the last of Aviva’s parents’ generation.

Mazal Galili – Luck of the Galilee.

She was 96 and, until a few weeks ago, she was all there.

She survived 3 of her 4 children.

Only a few weeks ago, she celebrated her birthday. Aviva baked a cake….

She was a joke-teller. And they were stories…..

When we went to see her last Saturday in hospital, not in the home, after she has suffered a stroke, we knew this near the end. We tried to make light of things; I sang to her. She responded with perhaps her last telling:

An old couple lived on the top floor. Each day it became more difficult to climb up and down those stairs. One day, Ephraim went down to shop at the super. He had a long list of things to buy. Only when he reached the ground floor did he realise he had forgotten the list. No mobiles in those days…

He thought of calling out to his wife – but he’d forgotten her name. “Rachel??”. No answer. “Rivka??”. No response. “Dvora!!”. Still nothing from his apartment. Another window opened, and an irate neighbour called out: “What’s the problem? You got scerosa”? (Slang for dementia). “Rosa!”, he cried excitedly. “That’s it. Rosa..”.  †

Things really happen in this country. We are about to have a new P.M. – and ours is a young lady. No big deal. Tsipi Livni has the position almost by default. Current P.M., Ehud Olmert, is resigning, expected this coming weekend, over a pending corruption scandal. Will this make a difference to the relations with our neighbours. I doubt it. The  planned Palestinian elections in the New Year have far more chance to change the status quo, depending on whether Fatah or Hamas wins the day.

The 2 Olympics have ended. The Paralympics were a reminder of wars, and the resultant goodwill that came out of them. The first Games for the handicapped was in 1948 in London, as a gesture to the many scarred by war. In 1984, there were no Paralympics (para = parallel to the regular Games; no connection to para-plegic); the Russians refused to admit there WERE any handicapped in their (hosting) country. So much for propaganda machine…

Here, some were voices calling finally for some memorial to the Israelis slain in 1972 Munich. The Spielberg film on the subject is currently playing on cable, and is a stark reminder of what went on. Can you imagine? Those Games continued…sportsmen shrugged their shoulders and went on with their personal quests, while their Israeli colleagues were initially held hostage – down the road.

The Games’ daily routine was interrupted; competitors had to take different routes to avoid the police-controlled scene. Some could not return to their quarters. Then the shout-out, the killings. And the Games went on.

No wonder we complain about ignorance and apathy. How can we expect others to understand, to get involved enough to feel?

It’s 31C today – and humid. Too hot for the credit crunch to hurt much here….

Stephen