Reaching Global

Having visited Israel several times and having worked in what ways I can to support her goals and to enhance her cultural and economic health, it pains me greatly to witness conflicts in the Middle East and to hear criticism of how this small country handles near-constant life-threatening attacks.

To paraphrase Immanuel Kant, “the hardest but most important thing is to hold two seemingly competing truths in mind simultaneously.”

To me, this seems to not only be the molecular structure that **TRUTH** most often comes in, but to be particularly apt to Israel and the Middle East almost always.

But back to basics: What can I do to make a difference?

I am MOVED by my cousins who are in Israel now, some of whom have returned to help in her hardest hours -- by Sharon, whose recent wedding was not postponed because of bombs; by Shaiel, who shares my multi-sensory love of the land; by his dad, Razi, who recently left the comfort of suburban Maryland to volunteer in the army yet again.

As for me? As is not surprising, many of my solutions over the years have including eating, drinking and shopping to make a difference -- from the Yarden, Golan Heights and Tishbi wines that I enjoy when I can to the Ahava (Hebrew for “love”) moisturizer that my skin has come to crave and the Israeli vine-ripened tomatoes that I happily buy whenever local varieties are out of season.

As with all else in my life, these and all forms of support (learning, giving, investing, going) never seem more important than NOW.

And I’m always glad to add to my arsenal....Which is why I was so happy to meet Marty Siegmeister of Allied Importers at the Paramount Brands tasting and to come upon the wines of Kinneret, whose vineyards are adjacent to Jerusalem.

Marty Siegmeister, pictured here with Mickey Green of Columbus Circle Wine and Liquor, and I discuss both the straightforwardness of Kinneret’s 2005 Muscat Hamburg -- naturally sweet with notes of roses and red berries -- and the complexities of Middle East politics.

Back home with a bottle of my own, I don’t just DRINK to the land(s) that I love: I think about the magnificence of time and place that one wine can contain. I educate myself a bit more about where this wine comes from and about what is going on there now. I get set for the Days of Awe,the Rabbi’s Rosh Hashanah sermon, and the shofar blasts that soon will follow. And as befits this period of reflection, repentence, renewal, I look back at what I’ve done, consider what more/different I can do, and resolve to do better.

And I toast: L’Chaim…to LIFE! To your/our happiness and health! And however we can attain and retain it, to PEACE, inside and out.

Warmly and looking forward,

Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau