Jewish Lightening Round

 In his new podcast, Prof. Shai Davidai does a lightning round at the end of every episode, and I want a go at answering his questions:

1. What is one thing people don't know about you?
• I get terrible anxiety, but it only really started when Lavi was born in 2019 so I haven't ever dealt with it properly.
2. What is one thing people don't know about the Jews?
• I live among Jews so I don't know what "people" think. Maybe people don't know our cultural history? Secular Jews might not even know. Judaism has two thousand years of history, literature, food, philosophy, music... It's a really fascinating and rich culture.
3. What's your favorite curse?
• Fuckeddy-fuck-fuck. I think I heard someone say that at summer camp when I was fifteen, like they were excited to be away from home and curse as much as they wanted, and I sort of adopted it. I hardly say it out loud, just to myself.
4. When was the last time you cried?
• In the shower the other day. Just a bit. I was overwhelmed by anxiety and kept thinking about how I'm failing my kids with every decision I make.
5. If you could have anyone over for shabbat dinner, from any time in history, who would it be?
• Good question. I have to think about that. Someone who's met lots of people of different sorts. Like Malcolm Gladwell or something.
6. Favorite holiday?
• I mean, Hanukka? It's the yummiest.
7. Least favorite holiday?
• Hmm the ones I spend at my in-laws?
8. When do you feel safest?
• It used to be my parents' house, but I was there on Oct 7th and all day long we could hear explosions, and it's been going on ever since. So not so safe anymore. Maybe now it's my own bedroom? When Yossi is home sleeping next to me.
9. When do you feel least safe?
• Driving on the highway, when I see suspicious things in the sky? Like trails that could only be left by rockets, or planes flying in the wrong direction. Knowing that if something falls on the road there's nothing I can do.
10. What gives you hope?
• The Israeli people. When I meet Israelis I get confident that we're going to be ok, because there are so many wonderful people here and this isn't just going to disappear.