My Nachlaot street-side balcony is better than a Netflix subscription. I’ve got dramas, romance and action to binge on at any time, and this particular Sabbath afternoon was no exception. My cat and I sat on the balcony when suddenly an old religious man came out of the blue declaring aloud for the whole neighborhood to hear:

“I don’t pardon, and I don’t forgive! Today on the holy Sabbath, I declare before you, Master of the Universe: I don’t forgive them, I don’t pardon them, I want their judgment – strike them!”

Hands flailing about, he continued down the street, cursing ‘those evil bastards,’ as bystanders were afraid to stare but too curious to look away. 

I was shocked. Cursing people, asking God to smite them or fire to consume them, this is the stuff of Bible times, right? Surely, no one believes this nowadays, right?

Come to think of it, someone had cursed me recently. It was a guy...