They sure do take holidays seriously here. I like their style. So we happened to be in Tel Aviv for their Independence Day. The day before the holiday, everything closed by around 3 PM so we so unfortunately had to stop working because there was nothing to work on. Even restaurants were not open the night before the holiday, (have you ever seen that happen?) At 11 am in the morning and in the night (I think) there was an alarm that sounded (an expected alarm) and everyone around the whooole country, (in stores, where I was, on the road driving, at the gym, etc. etc.) stopped what they were doing to assume a moment of silence for the soldiers of Israel. Everything was closed that night because it was typical for people to go to the grave of the soldiers to commemorate them. So, we had a day and a half of no work. Certainly no complaints here. I really admired the fact that they really dedicated the holiday to the soldiers, which is the root of their independence. I wish our independence day was more like this. The pride that people take in their country here is really unlike that I have seen before. There were flags everywhere, and, I could really just feel the vibe of how happy people were to be Israeli. It really made quite an impression.
Beth and I met an American who had become Israeli. He met an Israeli woman, fell in love, served in the Israeli army (as all Israeli men and women must do) and became a citizen. It was interesting to hear his point of view on America; he had become semi-anti-American and through all his ranting and raving I think he had 2 very interesting points. One was that we lack a sense of patriotism (the way we celebrate our independence day as opposed to the way Israel celebrates theirs, as an example, was one of his points), and also how America is so conservative and sends out a "sex is bad" message throughout our society. Which, I think is true, whether this is a good or a bad thing could be argued. I could go on for hours about these two issues, but, I don't want to get political and I must go to bed. I just thought these were two interesting points that left me thinking.
Back to time off... They do weekends right, too. As I mentioned, weekend is Friday and Saturday for Sabboth. Businesses close on Friday around 3/4 PM Fridays (including malls - before sundown) and then don't open again until around 8 or 9 PM on Saturday (after the sun has gone down. During this time, people of the Jewish faith spend their time relaxing, doing things that do not require work or anything electronic. It truly is a day of rest. (Although, I don't really like the fact that some of them take it so seriously they won't even get into a car! I don't think I could take it that far.) OK, over and out. Goodnight
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