{"id":761,"date":"2008-06-08T21:42:34","date_gmt":"2008-06-08T19:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/?p=761"},"modified":"2009-12-28T21:43:22","modified_gmt":"2009-12-28T19:43:22","slug":"capturing-the-high-ground-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/2008\/06\/capturing-the-high-ground-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Capturing the High Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>We were walking home from a friend\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s house after lunch on Shavuot<\/a> a couple of years back. It had been a blazingly hot day, a real Jerusalem sharav<\/a>, but at one point we were sure we felt a slight drizzle. As we entered the courtyard to our apartment complex, we felt it again.<\/p>\n

Then we noticed them: a group of 9 to 12-years olds huddled together in what I can only describe as a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153scheming posture.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d In the center was one child with an enormous water pistol.<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when we remembered. The holiday of Shavuot as it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s observed in Israel is also known as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yom HaMayim\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Water Day.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Run for it!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I yelled as we scampered towards our apartment before a stream of water headed our way.<\/p>\n

We avoided any serious soaking\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.this time. But the battle had only just begun.<\/p>\n

The doorbell rang. Two of then eight-year-old Aviv\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s friends were outside. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Can we use your terrace?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d one of them asked.<\/p>\n

Before I could think if this was a good or a bad thing for the Jews, Aviv had already ushered them inside.<\/p>\n

Now, we live in an upstairs apartment that has several inside levels; the sought-after terrace is actually three stories above ground level, giving anyone standing on it an unparalleled strategic advantage over enemies in the courtyard below. It truly is the high ground in the battle for Yom HaMayim supremacy.<\/p>\n

Aviv and his friends surveyed the scene from the terrace, then headed downstairs to our kitchen where they raided our collection of plastic water bottles that were waiting for recycling. They filled up three then resumed their positions. When the first volley of water was launched, the hapless soldiers below didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what hit them.<\/p>\n

What are the origins for this uniquely Israeli holiday custom? No one I asked could give me a definitive answer and the Internet wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t much help either.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it has something to do with the parting of the waters<\/a> of the Red Sea as the Jews left Egypt in preparation for receiving the Torah, the main event which Shavuot commemorates.<\/p>\n

Or maybe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more related to the symbolism surrounding Moses, who was rescued from the waters of the Nile<\/a> and raised in Pharaoh\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s palace.<\/p>\n

My friend Yuval claims it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s originally a North African custom that was elevated in importance when the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s secular founders were trying to emphasize the agricultural nature of the holiday.<\/p>\n

Or maybe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because Shavuot usually falls at the beginning of the summer and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just plain hot.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t long before there was another knock on the door. This time it was Merav\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s friends. More recruits for the Blum brigade. They too headed for the kitchen, but they were more interested in our supply of small plastic sandwich bags.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Can you tie this for me?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d asked Daniella, one of the youngsters, holding a filled bag. She and her friend Dara were building a not insignificant stockpile of water bombs. After the tenth bag, I told them to hold off, there might be other kids coming who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d want.<\/p>\n

Which there were\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6in droves.<\/p>\n

Over the course of the next half hour, no fewer than two dozen pre-teens, most part of a loose collection of friends of Merav and Aviv but others complete strangers, entered our kitchen, refilled their bottles and guns or built their own bombs, and headed for the terrace.<\/p>\n

At one point, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think there was anyone even left in the courtyard.<\/p>\n

Naturally, all of this created no small amount of mess. Puddles of water formed around the kitchen sink and the water tap in the entry-level guest bathroom. A small river of mud and twigs snaked from the front door to the terrace.<\/p>\n

My wife Jody pulled me aside. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enough,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n

But the kid inside of me had other ideas. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we just let them have fun?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I asked Jody. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcYom HaMayim is only once a year.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Jody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes surveyed the accumulating devastation that was taking over our living room.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be responsible for cleaning up. Just sit back and enjoy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll enjoy it more if I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jody said with a smile and promptly closed herself off in a secure room while the Yom HaMayim battle continued unabated outside.<\/p>\n

For the next hour, I helped the combatants keep the supply lines open. I made sure no one slipped or got hurt. We provided drinks and cut up watermelon.<\/p>\n

Eventually the battle wore down. The plastic bag supply ran out. Several girls were wrapped in towels as they shivered. I actually managed to get a few kids \u00e2\u20ac\u201c led by Aviv, Merav, Dara and Daniella \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to help clean up the garbage below.<\/p>\n

As I squeegee-d the water towards the terrace drain, one of the kids asked me, her eyes glazed with drops of water and appreciation, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Is your house open like this every year?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is now,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I replied.<\/p>\n

As Jody emerged from her room, I said \u00e2\u20ac\u0153next year, we have to be better prepared. We need to stock up on plastic bags and save up the recycling for several weeks.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Or maybe,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jody said, as she surveyed the damage, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll just lock the doors and pretend to not be home.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

————————-<\/p>\n

From the entire Blum family, we wish you a joyous – and dry – Shavuot.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We were walking home from a friend\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s house after lunch on Shavuot a couple of years back. It had been a blazingly hot day, a real Jerusalem sharav, but at one point we were sure we felt a slight drizzle. As we entered the courtyard to our apartment complex, we felt it again. Then we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":763,"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761\/revisions\/763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}