Yesterday was Israel's 60th birthday, marked by numerous celebrations commemorating the nation's struggle for independence in 1948. I wrote a poem (posted below) to commemorate the continued struggle towards a truly democratic, peaceful nation that can be celebrated by all of Abraham's sons and daughters.
Birthday
Toddler in men's trousers,
Sucking your thumb through a cocked pistol.
Is the trigger in your mouth?
But you're pointing it at me.
Ancient stains on a tainted land -
Did He keep His promise?
Birthright through bloodshed,
And no one to tell the emperor he's naked.
The keys to the temple are here,
But we search in darkness.
Where did we meet last we found each other?
Take my hand, my brother.
Sixty candles coated in honey,
But the milk is burning.
Can you see?
Can you see me?
One fine morning I packed up my life, laced up my boots, and left in search of something... different. This is a record of my work and travels throughout India and Africa during a year's leave from studying medicine in NYC.
Take a look at some of my best photographs from India and Africa: http://pbase.com/quideam
Intelligent reporting and analysis of current events around the world:
International Crisis Group
Reuters AlertNet
Newspapers/ Magazines of Note:
The Nation
Economist
The New York Times
Haaretz - Israel
Support a more Progressive Judaism...
Liberal Judaism
Radical Torah
Fantastic blog by an emergency physician working in Darfur with MSF: Suddenly... Sudan
Support Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medicine services!
Intelligent reporting and analysis of current events around the world:
International Crisis Group
Reuters AlertNet
Newspapers/ Magazines of Note:
The Nation
Economist
The New York Times
Haaretz - Israel
Support a more Progressive Judaism...
Liberal Judaism
Radical Torah
Fantastic blog by an emergency physician working in Darfur with MSF: Suddenly... Sudan
Support Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medicine services!
About Me
- Zina S.
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Life's not about having all the answers, but sometimes we get so caught up in the minutia that we find ourselves unable to even voice the questions. 8 years of post-graduate education, and I found myself further away from understanding than I had been when life was about pasting macaroni on cardboard. So I packed up my camera, sthethescope and a good pair of hiking boots and hit the road. This blog is a record of my medical work, photography, and travel throughout India and Africa during a year's break from medical training in NYC. Stay tuned and thanks for taking this journey with me!
Surfing For Medics
Favorite Quotes
"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." -Elie Wiesel
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?" - Rabbi Hillel
"To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead." - Russell
"War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- J.S.M.
"The dignity of a man lies in his ability to face reality in all its meaninglessness." - Martin Esslin
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?" - Rabbi Hillel
"To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead." - Russell
"War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- J.S.M.
"The dignity of a man lies in his ability to face reality in all its meaninglessness." - Martin Esslin
Invictus
OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
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