Holiday in the Holy Land

Although the lay westerner might be forgiven for not noticing, this month is Tishri, the seventh month of Jewish lundar calendar. The month is festooned with holidays, leaving only 5 working days for the observant worshipper. The state of Israel, blissfully sectarian as it is, recognizes the most important of these holidays, and even the most secular israelis acknowledge the importance of not working on these important days, even if they would never deign to actually worship. The schools are shut down, and the companies all but: my client will work exactly one day this week (Thursday).

The generally festive atmosphere in the State of Israel also gives ample cause for expatriate families to return home to see their loved ones at rest, or perhaps rest some themselves. Today I moved to a new hotel, my third since arriving, this one of having both of the advantages that each of my prior attempts had in isolation: proximity to my office and a location on the beach. It's called the Daniel, and it's a mid-sized hotel in a suburb to the north of Tel Aviv called Herzaliya. The property was probably built sometime in the 90's, probably during the building boom that followed the beginning of the peace process and all the optimisim it brought. That optimism proved rather hollow, and most of the products of that boom are similarly tinny. A fine location, a clean building, but the walls don't quite meet the floor, and the roof has some odd discolorations: as though I were staying in a movie set that had been left up for too long.

The many holiday-makers staying in this place don't seem to mind that much, and the inevitable horde of screaming kids don't seem to notice at all, content to flap in the pool and remind me of the vanity of my labor. The picture was taken from my bedroom (and posted directly to this blog via from my phone :) ).