Two tidbits that gave me hope this morning

At the start of November I offered some advice to PM Netanyahu as to how to extricate himself from the conflicting demands of the US administration and his own government.

I said then (and still maintain) that if Bibi would simply tell Obama that Israel can only deliver the new 90- day building freeze the US wants if Jonathan Pollard were released, there isn't a single person in his ruling coalition who would vote against such a trade-off. And in addition to finally getting Pollard out of jail, it would finally show the US what it means to make difficult concessions in the name of peace.

Well, if today's news is to be believed, either Prime Minister Netanyahu is a closet treppenwitz reader... or he is getting excellent advice from other quarters. OK, probably the latter.... but still gratifying to read about a politician doing something sensible for a change.

On a more personal note, my optometrist, Dr. Robert Lederman, (you may remember I wrote about a small miracle he performed on my behalf here) shared an 'only in Jerusalem' anecdote with me that I couldn't resist posting here in his own words:

"I was recently examining an 8 year old boy. He looked like a regular kid wearing a T-shirt and shorts. I was in the middle of doing a retinoscopy when in the distance I heard the siren of an ambulance, as happens in any city from time to time.

The 8 yr old boy asked me if I could stop the exam.

I thought that he wanted to go to the bathroom. But what he did instead was to recite Psalm 121 by heart in Hebrew to pray for the well-being of whoever it was in that ambulance.

When he'd finished, he let me carry on."

A wonderful reminder that, despite what many think, there is far more in the clear, cool Jerusalem air than the sound of sirens.