Inside the Hope Machine
Plus, thoughts on polyamory and why you should bring a sweater to Jerusalem
Good morning from a five-star hotel in Jerusalem, where last night it was utterly freezing.
“Jerusalem is famous for that,” wrote a friend, after she saw an Instagram photo I posted from Sefer Ve Sefel and adding that she “spent so many angsty teen years there drinking coffee!” I drank a Campari and soda, contemplated grabbing a Paul Auster novel and listened to a couple, a man mostly, very heatedly explain why the situation with the hostages “is utterly fucked.”
Readers here know I’ve been spending time with hostage families. My first “Dispatch from Israel” posted last night to Reason. A clip from “Inside the Hope Machine”:
There is no road map for what to do when your child is abducted by terrorists; when 1,400 of your countrymen are slaughtered and hundreds of others kidnapped; when the world variously shows sympathy or skepticism; when local authorities are too swamped or self-interested to reach out. Shem Tov, in fact, did not hear from any state official until days after she'd seen a video of Omer on the floor of a pickup truck, his hands cuffed.
"This is how I help; this is how I don't go crazy," she says of spending 12 hours a day at Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Tel Aviv, an organization formed by a handful of Israelis within 48 hours of the October 7 massacre. It's a space where people can bring their sorrow and industry: Bakers bake bread, the rich give cash, and citizens—2000 to date, all volunteers—set up tents in a square within sight of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters. There, hostage families can rest and protest to ensure their loved ones are not forgotten, a 21st-century version of "making the desert bloom," born of a similar refusal to give in to desperation and the death their neighbors might wish for them…
Read the whole thing here.
I’m off to the West Bank this morning, for several days of reporting. I have been asked by many to stay safe; that’s the plan. I absolutely do not downplay the dangers here in Israel; so far for me everything has been smooth; we heard a few bombs in the far far distance two nights ago - the person I was with, a former IDF spokesman, said it was likely in Gaza - and the only mishap I’ve had is accidentally squirting lemon body cream on my toothbrush. Per usual, if you appreciate the reporting from Israel, you can support it by becoming a paid subscriber and/or via Venmo, CashApp or Paypal.
On last night’s episode of “Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em,” Sarah Hepola and I discussed polyamory. I have thoughts…
