The Passover festival has commenced. Easter for many Christian communities is on its way. The Holy Land is full of strange stories just now, but if there is no overt Middle East crisis, then the world press ignores us.

What do I mean? Well take this Wednesday morning, around 6.40am. Hundreds of thousands of worshippers all over the country rushed out to watch the sunrise. The rabbis have calculated that the sun returns to its starting position every 28 years, and this week was that big moment. Yup, there were sarcastic mutterings about Stonehenge, but there we all were, bright and early.

And then, the country completed its preparations for Passover. Leavened food is a no-no for 7 days, as we recall the Exodus from Egypt. The cleaning goes so far that even bottled water from underground springs has to have a special certificate to say that it has no bread content.

Whether that was what Moses intended for future generations, I do not know. But I am at a loss to  explain some of these customs to outsiders.

Even the Kenesset has joined in the silly season. Bibi Netanyahu is back in power. He controls the Kenesset, yes? Well…how come the opposition party of Tzipi Livni, with barely 25% of the seats was able to filibuster the budget debate for nearly 24 hours? Just wait till the new PM tries to pass a contentious peace package through the chamber!!!

There are many more stories, but I will leave you with a note from Israel’s football team. They have received one of the easiest routes ever towards the World Cup Finals in South Africa next year. The main task was to beat Greece.

But, our 11 heroes failed, if only because they have clearly been trained to pass the ball to the opposition.  It now turns out that at a crucial point in the match, some Greek intellectual tried to blind the Israeli goalkeeper from long distance. Considering how Israel  played, this tactic may have had the opposite to the intended effect. In any event, the 3 points may be transferred from Greece to the Israeli clowns.

Could these stories happen in other countries? Probably. Could they all occur, and together, and in such a short space of time, I doubt it. And that is why I love living here.

Best wishes to all my readers, whatever you are celebrating this month.