"Palms Up"

Yom sheni, 25 Tamuz 5768/28 July 2008, Monday.

Okay. I've given in. I am now a proud owner of "the national shoe of Israel."

Crocs really are not as bad as I had thought they would be. The "made in China" thing put me off for a while. Mostly it was the fact that, when I went to their web site, there was no mention of Israel amid the many nations they served. That really brought out my nationalistic ire. But, as each kid came home with a pair... and I started to think of the wisdom of a shoe with lots of spiffy little air holes to let the feet "breathe"; and then my Soldier Boy's new bride actually found SIZE 14 (which is also what his father wears)... what could I do? The fact is, they are a darned comfortable shoe. There is a mashal here for the life of an Israeli. We can stand on principle, and sometimes that is the right thing to do. I think that applies to Gush Katif, and the Golan, and Amona, and Shdema. And then there is the time to say "yadaiim maaleh" -- palms up. "Zeh lo chashuv." -- It's not that important. As my dear husband says, "You have to pick the sword you want to die on."

Crocs aren't my sword.

I may wear them to the next protest about keeping Shdema Jewish. Yeah, I like the symmetry of that.