An Unsolved WW 2 Mystery

It wasn't there two years ago when I visited the spot. 
I  went nearer to contemplate it. No inscription. So, for a change, that was no memorial of some kind,  just an environmental exibit made of stone and marble. Beautiful. 
Behind it,  a bakery/ coffee shop with chairs and tables outside. There were no customers because of the heat. I couldn"t even take some decent pictures because of the strong sun.

face and back (identical) of the exhibit

sides (identical) of the exhibit

empty chairs at the coffee shop

At the far end of the street, however, there was the monument dedicated to the swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg who had rescued thousands of people (mostly hungarian jews)  from the Holocaust. The street was named after him: a long, busy street in a respectable, high-tech tel avivian neighborhood called 'Atidim' ('Futures').

statue with face overlooking  Raoul Wallenberg street

Nearby, a beautiful park with a lot of facilities.  (There is a park on the opposite side of the street too).

park (toilets)

The monument (unveiled in June 2002)  looked rather gloomy. The diplomat's fate was also gloomy. 74 years after his disappearance in 1945, and nobody knows for sure what has happened to him.

jogger from the park approaching the back of the statue

monument seen from across the street

Many cities in the world (New York, Budapest, London, Buenos Aires,) have erected statues in his memory. However, little was done by the world to search for him. It was convenient for them all to  accept the theory  that he had died in a soviet prison.

Only two swedish women - his sister Nina and his niece Nane Annan (the wife of Kofi Annan , the african  from Ghana,  former UN general secretary) spared no effort to try and find the truth. Apparently with no success. ׂ(his half brother Guy van Dardel and   two US - based researchers should also be mentioned).
His disappearance in January 1945, remains one of the unsolved mysteries of World War 2.

No Mezuzah at McDonald's

I was quite surprised when I first learnt that the franchise owner of McDonald's chain in Israel was Omri Padan. The guy was known as an extreme anti-religious, left-oriented political activist. That could theoretically mean that some 25%-30% of potential customers would not go to McDonald's eateries.

the very first McD  , opened at Ayalon Mall ,Ramat-Gan in 1993

 McD's in my hometown -on  ground floor of  building 

But what do I know? The triangle of business, religion, politics is indeed a very tricky one, and yet it seems Padan (now Dr Padan) has successfully played his cards. McDonald's Israel is an empire.

Anyway, I like the McDonald's concept (all of it - food, system, social experience).
What I do not like when I happen to be there, is the fact that there's no 'mezuzah' sitting on the entrance doorpost . Almost every house and shop in this country has a 'mezuzah' affixed to its doorpost. It's a tradition, a nice  one, if you ask me.

copper made mezuzah on the local Supermarkets's doorpost

A 'mezuzah' is a case, a holder (usually decorative) containing a piece of parchment with  hand-written biblical verses on it. It's supposed to protect and bless  the house and its people. 

case and scroll 

The case comes in various materials:  plastic, wood, metal, ceramics, silver, porcelain - the two last mentioned being more expensive. Everything goes.

ceramics and metal cases

metal cases (aluminium, bronze, copper)

The most important part, though, is the scroll to be placed within the case. 
It must be hand-calligraphed with verses from Deuteronomy that start with "Hear o Israel, the Lord our God,  the Lord is One".

A genuine scroll is usually not sold at a souvenir shop but at a judaica one, and could be quite expensive.
After a while (several years) it has to be checked for faded or deleted letters, spot or crease;if this is found,  the scroll will be considered faulty and will have to be replaced.

scrolls of different sizes

Sometimes, a 'mezuzah' gets stolen; the thieves are looking for authentic, high quality scrolls. Because of that, there are buildings where the 'mezuzah' is placed on the inner side of the entrance door.(In a house or office there's a 'mezuzah' on every door - except bathroom and toilets).

ceramics - inner room

metal- utility room

wood - balcony

As someone has remarked:"if it can't even protect itself from thieves, it can't protect the house either"   Food for thought. Perhaps it was a faulty mezuzah.