Next Project

The blog will appear inactive for several months, as an involved story is being prepared. Set in Jerusalem of the future, it starts on a rundown housing Development of Haredi (ultra-orthodox) people. Amidst a backdrop of total poverty, in a place where time essentially stands still, the people are disconnected from current events. After all, what does it really matter what the Palestinians or secular Israelis choose to do, when you are draft exempt?
The men's main function is fulltime study, which supplies their draft exemption. For the women, the exemption comes from being married at age 18. Largely forbidden to study, they act as the support for the men doing so.
But nearby events, the mega riot in Ramallah, has repercussions on a number of the Development families. For one person, Sarah, the narrator, the fallout assumes gargantuan proportions. Her quiet little world of working in the Development library vanishes forever and she is flung into the modern world.