Falafel Balls & Pita

Many a lafa consumed, many consumed a lafa; many a Shekel spent, many spent a Shekel; many a conversation argued, many an argument conversed, many a taxi metered, many a meter taxied – I’ve been here for a week and a half and it feels like… well, at times it feels like forever, and at times it feels like for never.

I find it extremely difficult to write in Israel. It is like drinking underwater: so much water, so few cups. It is every chickpea’s (or bakers) greatest nightmare: too many falafel balls, not enough pitas. Yes, for me Israel is an influx of oros and an outflux (copyright) of kaylim.

You know those moments, when the understandable becomes the actual; when the “idea” becomes the “ideal”, when the “huh” becomes an “oh”? (Answer optional). Well, when I turned on my computer, clicked on Word, and attempted a sentence, the whole concept of oros and kaylim became less of a “concept” and more of a “resonation”: the what-it-means-is-this has become the so-that’s-what-it-means”.

Everywhere but here, the writings flow and the emotions congeal; everywhere but there, the writings congeal and the emotions flow. Here, there is more ink than pen; there, more pen than ink. Of course, kaylim exist here like everywhere else – otherwise “here” wouldn’t exist at all – here however, for me anyway, it is much more difficult to bulb the light than it is to smith the iron – that is, it is much easier to fill the container than it is to capture the light.

Before the blanks (and scrapes) caused by “writers (stumbling) block” became an issue, I learned that both oros and kaylim are needed; now I know it. It’s like those times, when you step out of the book and actually see the words jump off the pages and into reality.

If Ohr is self-expression, Kayli is its captor. You, and you alone, decide if the captor should brandish handcuffs or merely the cuffs’ prefix, a hand: should the captor be a stumbling block or a stepping stool.

Back in the States, the writing would come easy but the words would come hard; here the words come easy and it is the writing that comes hard. Until now, I’ve only known why, now I see why: in the states, the conveying is easy, only it is the ideas that are hard; here, the ideas are easy, it is only conveying them that is hard. It is much more difficult to convey an idea that resonates than it is to convey an idea that is disputable. Truths are hard to be true to, while falseness is as true as you make it. It is much easier to harness an expression that might or might not have consequence, than it is to harness an indisputable expression of consequence. It is easier containing a broken light in a smooth container than it is a smooth light in a broken container.

When writing over there, the expression can be expressed expressly; here the expression must be expressed expertly – otherwise, instead of conveying truth, one might not be doing the truth justice. When that happens, the truth becomes distorted.

In the Holy Land, everything resonates and nothing is resonated. To convey a power like that is most difficult: it is messy filling a small pita with big falafel balls; for Falafels to express themselves in a well-rounded way, a round flowery lafa is needed. Likewise, for the writer to express the great oros of over yonder, a corresponding great kayli is needed.

Fear not my friends, construction is on the way.

Would you like chumus with that?