Shabbat Shalom
So I realize I am more or less the last person to link to the Hasidic Rebel. I noticed him but hadn't had time to take a look. The ultra-religious world fascinates Israelis. Books about it, fiction and otherwise, are extremely popular, a peek into our past, maybe. You all know Naomi Ragen, I suppose, even if you haven't read any of her books, but there are quite a few others. I was particularly moved by Dov Elboim's disturbing novel about life in a Haredi yeshiva as experienced by a young teenage boy. I don't think it has been translated

What could be more intriguing than a blog written from inside that world, and by a dissenter no less? There is just something so alluring about looking into a different world, and also seeing our world as others see it.

As a child I was always drawn to other little girls I came across that were different - like the Palestinian schoolgirls with long pants under their long striped school dresses and, of course, the ultra-religious girls with their red woolen tights. Their tights always seemed to be red, no matter what color the rest of their clothes were. Our skirts were all way above the knee in those days. The Arab and ultra-religious girls in their long clothes seemed so exotic.

Isn't it a fascination with the different that draws us to Salam for instance, who rewards us with his unique point of view of life in Iraq? I suppose that's why some people find us Israeli bloggers interesting, too, although we're hardly as intriguing. I don't think our lives are particularly unusual, security considerations aside. This guy has just started writing about life as a technician in the Israeli Air Force. Would that be an airplane technician, I wonder. It always blows my mind to think about the responsibility those guys have. Just think of the tens of thousands of bolts on a fighter plane, for one thing. Imagine mucking up. Brrrrr. Same feeling about people who fold parachutes.