The elections are coming

I was just thinking about the upcoming February elections for the Israeli Knesset (Parliament), and asked myself are elections really around the corner?

You wouldn't know it if you drove the roads of the Golan Heights. When I lived in more populated parts of the country, political signs would pop up everywhere. By now, the bus stops in Jerusalem - and other big cities - have probably been mummified with campaign messages.

However, when I read the newspaper this past weekend, I realized that our quad-annual national holiday is fast approaching. I guess the left-wing parties that wish to cede the Heights have nothing to say to us. But I am surprised that the parties that are competing for our votes have remained, for the most part, silent. The truth of the matter is, I have to say this is quite nice, because while people are gungho about putting signs up on highways, they probably are not the same way when it comes to taking them down. And that just causes trash to pile up.

I have noticed one political sign, though, but it was a small party that I think has joined forces with the Likud. And speaking of the Likud, their big shots were in Qatzrin last week giving support to residents of the Golan Heights.

Also, a few weeks ago, Yisrael Beiteinu kicked off their 2009 campaign trail in Qatzrin.

So I guess there is some politicking going on up north, but not nearly as much in the heavily populated areas. Either way, I have the 10th of February circled on my calendar and look forward to the day off.

Go Golan is all about Go North

Nefesh B'Nefesh, the non-profit organization that encourages and facilitates Aliyah for American, Canadian, and British Jews, is entering the next phase of its mind blowing Aliyah revolution: Go North.

Last week, Nefesh B'Nefesh issued a press release about making aliyah to northern Israel. The Golan Heights, being an integral part of the northern front, is playing an integral part of the bold Go North initiative. I've already contacted them and volunteered to help out in any way that I possibly can.

But, as someone who has "Gone North," I would like to debate one line from their press release:

The 'Go North' program aims to encourage Olim who are drawn to Northern Israel but are held back because of concerns that moving to a less developed area will be more costly and more difficult.

True, jobs might be harder to come by then say if you chose to live in Tel Aviv, but the same could be said about Upstate New York compared to New York City. And while it is less developed, the rugged and rural aspects of the north affords a quality of life second to none. Finally, in terms of the area being more costly, I find this untrue - you just need to uncover a bunch of unturned stones to find the community of your dreams... and Nefesh B'Nefesh has just done this for you.

Kudos to them. Go North; Go Golan!

Going, going green... hopefully

Our family started composting a couple of months ago and I have to say I'm very into it. I haven't figured out all the ins and outs about it, but then again, the composter's beginners manual said that turning "garbage" into enriched soil fertilizer can take up to six months.

So, I guess you'll have to ask me in the spring if I did it right.

But the real "green" in the blog header above has to do with the Golan's layer of green that sprouts above the soil this time of year.

Two weeks ago, I wrote that it started to rain a bit and that the land began its annual turn to green. But sadly, this process seems to have come to a halt. Since then very little rain has fallen up here in the northern region of Israel, and it seems that brownish-green patches of land aren't getting brighter - if anything, they're slowly reverting back to their summer-state brown.

Although, after speaking with one of the local farmers about the grim situation last week, it did rain on consecutive days. But sadly, when the third day rolled around the sun prevailed. Hopefully, the adage "when it rains it pours" will come true in the Golan Heights this winter.

All cowed up

I've heard this stat dozens of time, so I'll assume it's true: New Zealand has more sheep than people. With that in mind, I'll venture to say that the Golan Heights - with a small yet growing population of around 40,000 (split 50-50 amongst Jews and Druze) - has more cows than people.

Take my small moshav for example: there are under 100 families and the cooperative's cowshed plays home to over 800 cows. If that's the norm, and I do believe so, then I'm on track to prove my theory correct. Plus, I'll even say this with the understanding that my moshav's cowshed is one of the most profitable ones in Israel based on the amount of milk produced per cow. And no, as a resident I don't get any profits.

So driving towards Qatzrin last week, it came to me as no surprise when I saw a big brown and white bovine nonchalantly crossing highway 87. It even had a look in it's eyes saying, "Don't honk at me. Wait!" But this past weekend, when we were down in Modiin for Shabbat, I did not expect to hear that my youngest son (almost 2) was peering around each corner and yelling for his four-legged friends, "COWS! COWS!"

I guess that comes from living up in the country where the cows live without a care in the world.