Enough with the tears for today; too many emotions have run through our bodies in the last 24 hours – more than we can take as a nation.
From the happiness and tears of joy at seeing mothers reunited with their daughters after not knowing if they would ever see them alive again; to the fear that runs deep inside our hearts about the monsters being released from prison in exchange for our girls; to the pride we feel as a caring nation that recognizes that every life counts; to our thoughts of the soldier heroes we lost fighting for us – those who perished at the hands of beasts we are now liberating.
We continue to hope that the war will end, but we also want it to continue until a complete and total victory can be declared. It is all a little too much.
This is when I decide that I’ve had enough drama and instead join the live event on my little phone screen, watching the coronation of the new king of the world – just as I start filling my cart with produce for my empty pantry that begs for a refill after a crazy week of working nonstop.
It is only now that I can do food shopping and only now that I will get to see history repeating itself in such a grandiose way: Donald Trump being sworn in again as American president. I have no choice but to do both at the same time.
I lay my phone sideways to get a better view, placing it on my bag balanced on a box of Krembo in my cart. Even though I am physically in an Osher Ad supermarket in Jerusalem, my heart is in Washington, DC.
As the gorgeous room on Capitol Hill slowly fills with the world’s most important leaders, potatoes make their way into my cart, followed by tomatoes and cucumbers. I watch my phone, push the cart, check the veggies, and fill the trolley. People are watching me – I look weird; I don’t care.
The concentration of human power in that Capitol Hill stately ballroom is something I have never seen, from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg; from LVMH’s Bernard Arnault to Tesla/SpaceX’s Elon Musk; from Italian PM Giorgia Meloni to Argentinian President Javier Milei – they all look like schoolchildren now, waiting for the headmaster to enter the room.
Time to move to the freezers. My phone screen seems frozen in time, too, as I watch all the past living presidents coming together under one roof. Bill Clinton with soft white hair like the cauliflower head I just picked up, and George W. Bush, who does not age and seems to be frozen in time, just like the string beans I place in my cart.
Barack Obama makes his entrance alone, tall and elegant, just like the beautiful dark eggplant I am checking with my other eye. He looks defeated for good now, his big dreams of continuing to run the country from behind the scenes using puppets crushed, making me visualize how my eggplant, once mashed, will make delicious hatzilim (eggplant salad).
I move to the dairy section, pushing the cart with my body, as I do not want to miss a blink of this moment in history.
The smell of strong cheese disturbs me and coincides with the entrance of outgoing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who are trying to keep their heads high and wear fake smiles. I feel almost embarrassed for them as I move away from the smell.
Let me go to my favorite aisle. Fresh bread, delicious croissants, and chocolate rugelach make their way into my cart as the newly elected president’s children appear on my screen. How refreshing to see a beautiful, big First Family like the Trumps! Eric and Donald Jr. look clean and polished, reminding me of coffee and brioche; Ivanka looks marvelous, like a velvety rich butter cake; Tiffany with Barron, the little boy who grew up to be a giant, makes me think of a future president.
Time to pick my favorite coffee; as a true Italian, it’s a serious job. I know good coffee, and I know true style, and that’s when Melania makes her way solo in front of the world, looking like a queen. Thank God, elegance and beauty are back in the White House. I choose Lavazza coffee capsules, No. 10, strong and rich; that should do it for my mornings.
THE TIME has come to select the meat – the king of my Shabbat table. My husband is the one who knows which meat is good, but he taught me well, and I learned to always listen to him – just like he told me 10 years ago that Donald Trump would one day be one of the greatest. So I rely on him… in both areas.
The butcher advises me on a delectable piece of roast beef. I can’t go wrong, he says. And as he packs it nicely the way I like it, Trump takes a bow alone in front of the world, and I know… he can’t go wrong.
He looks older and wiser than at the last inauguration – less arrogant – and more aware of his mission in this world. The camera provides a very close image; you can almost see his thoughts. The most powerful man on Earth now stands tall and thankful to be alive, ready to fix the world, or at least half of it.
The slightly disturbing, childish attitude he had during the first round is gone; he has become stronger. He looks like he has risen above all the pettiness of us simple people: money, power – he has seen it all and has risen above it. He is eager to start the work he has fought to do for so long; he wants to be there with the people, in the land he adores, and truly bring it back to glory – The United States of America.
The priest begins his prayer, and everyone in the crowd seems to forget, for a moment, their ego and really focus on God. The camera slides through the aisles, and for a second I feel as if I am right there with them and forget that I’m in aisle 2, waiting in an endless line for the kupa [cashier] as we say here.
So I pray, too, that I haven’t overdone it again and end up spending a fortune.
Learning from America
Israel has a lot to learn from America. As I look at this insane crowd of people all gathered under one roof, a huge statue of Abraham Lincoln seems as if it will come back to life any second as it looms over them. The elegant transition of power from the extreme Left to the strong Right is a show that only Americans can pull off – with fake smiles and handshakes – yet with respect and acceptance of defeat.
Once the president is king in America, he rules above all; he is the commander-in-chief – not like here in Israel. I have never seen an inauguration like this, as I am sure you, too, have not, and I have never encountered an American president who believes in Israel more than many Israelis do.
May God be with you and guide you, Mr. Trump, and may you never doubt us, even for a second. We need you, and you need us. Thank you for making me believe every day that if you believe, you fight, and you work, you will surely win.
Shopping done; now starts the real work – preparing and cooking.
Good luck to you too, Mr. Trump; you have a lot of work to do, but good times lie ahead.
Shabbat, here we come.■
The writer, originally from Italy, lives in Jerusalem with her husband and four children. She heads HadassahChen Productions and hosts a weekly talk show on Arutz Sheva.