My Kingdom for a Can Opener

This country is booming. 

Israel broke into the top 10 on the Bloomberg Innovation Index for 2017. According to Deutsche Bank, the Shekel is the world's second strongest currency (after the Chinese Yuan).  During the past 12 months the value of the Shekel increased 6.1% over the Dollar, Pound and Euro. This isn't necessarily good because it makes exports more expensive, and contributes to a trade imbalance. And of personal interest, the cost of apartments went up by the same margin. But it speaks to the strength of the economy.

Boy George (remember him?) performed in Tel Aviv last night. From the stage, loud and clear in plain English, he told Roger Waters (who nobody remembers) to f--- off. The list of international artists and performers who will appear in Israel in the next few months is pages long.

The number of states that have enacted anti-BDS legislation increases almost daily, along with the number of BDS resolutions that have been defeated. In fact the BDS movement would be on the ash heap of movements if it wasn't for US college campuses, and the collaboration of "progressive" Jewish groups such as JVP and mainstream organizations such as Hillel, all of whom should be utterly ashamed of themselves. Although this is a topic for another time, it pisses me off and I won't stop railing against BDS and their supporters, no matter who they are. 

And what about breakthroughs in science, medicine and agriculture? Crop yields, water conservation, medical technology, treatments and cures for diseases, you name it and Israel has made the world a better, safer and healthier place. 

Even the self-service check out at the supermarket works.

So WHY can't I open a can?

Two venerable kitchen gadgets that no one can live without are a vegetable peeler and can opener. In all the years I've been coming here I have yet to encounter a kitchen that is equipped with a working model of either one. The vegetable peelers are dull and useless, and the can openers are either non-existent or the ones people used to take on camping trips, also useless. 

To date I haven't seen an innovation for the vegetable peelers, but the issue of the can openers is another matter. Israeli ingenuity being what it is, and clearly in recognition of the fact that no one has a decent can opener, several years ago manufacturers started putting a pop top on cans. Problem solved, right? Maybe in theory, because more often than not the pop top pops off in the middle of opening the can. In most cases it doesn't matter so much, because the can is half opened and the contents accessible. Yes, it's a little messy sometimes, especially when it comes to tuna and sardines, but nevertheless at least you can get the contents out. 

But what happens when you have a big (15 oz) can to open? The pop top pops off as soon as you grab it. And that's just what happened this morning as I was preparing something for dinner. We scoured the kitchen and did find one of those old, useless camping can openers. Of course it didn't work. There was nothing even remotely close to a church key. The only tools we had were a couple of pliers, which we used as hammers, a corkscrew serving as the nail. All I needed was a small opening in order to pour the contents (crushed tomatoes) out. Nothing was going to work, so Sid to the rescue. 

Luckily this happened before he went on his morning run to the grocery store. Going shopping on a Friday is a combat sport and you surely don't want to have to do it twice. He had to go to three different stores until he finally found a decent can opener and I was able to finish my cooking.

Iraqi Buri in tomato sauce

As I've said countless times, embrace the chaos and remember: there's never a dull moment.

Shabbat shalom from Jerusalem,

Peggy and Sid