“This is Arala from Mifal HaPayis. You won 250,000 shekels and will receive only 162,500 shekels” | Meir Uziel

I was a bit disappointed in the first episode, it is not what I expected from the higher sub-level of “HaPshuta” that I knew on the net. But there were flashes of brilliance. A line like: “This is not a conversation that can be held face-to-face, this is a conversation for WhatsApp”, is worth everything. They didn't have to add that there are emojis. I wrote in this column of ours about “HaPshuta” more than six years ago, in June 2020. Almost no one knew this name then.

There are places in the younger generation where surprising formulations and language flourish that are a pleasure to read or hear. Many of the accolades for fresh and innovative writing in this younger generation belong to women who write texts. The texts of “HaPshuta” were published without it being known who wrote them, and were also written in the feminine gender. Therefore, I mistakenly thought it was a girl.

I quoted images of “HaPshuta” six years ago. For example: “When the whole class is arguing if the answer is 5 or 6 but you got 243”. Or: “The people in my life are divided into those who are upset by the union on the right and those who are upset by the betrayal of Khloe Kardashian with Kylie Jenner's BFF”. Already then, when I wanted to write about proper behavior during Zoom, and recommend sitting for Zoom in a relatively quiet area where you can't hear what's happening at home, I quoted what “HaPshuta” told about what happens on Zoom when the house is filmed from behind: “The whole class heard my parents getting divorced on Zoom”.

In my opinion, it is hard to contradict the fact that I am among the few first who wrote about “HaPshuta” in the national press. You will not succeed in ruining this proud assumption of mine.

As someone who exposed the phenomenon, I expected more, that is to say a much larger gap from a script like “American Henna”, but nevertheless I was impressed by some situations and by quite a few sentences in the series. Although the series is based on a more banal format than I expected from “HaPshuta”. An automatic story about a girl from a small town who comes to Tel Aviv, about a problematic tenant in a shared apartment, or about a “chahla” (vulgar girl) who studies at an elitist university.

In a side note, I cannot refrain from mentioning that the controversial President of the Supreme Court, Isaac Amit, recently mentioned in his speech at the ceremony for the certification of new lawyers the film “Legally Blonde”, a film where the plot is about a “chahla” who studies at an elitist university. A point in favor of Isaac Amit. Indeed, the first episode in the series of “HaPshuta” is called: “Not Just Blonde”.

“HaPshuta” is okay. Perfectly okay. I recommend watching. There are grimaces, and there are situations that you guess before they started, there is a lot of artificiality with a Bisli Grill flavor, but for the successful moments, thanks to self-confident words, it is worth watching.

Cooking program for the Prime Minister. The situation is complicated. Both forward and backward, both from top to bottom, both from right to left, both from left to right, both diagonally and on a winding slide. Israelis do not agree with each other. But there is light at the end of the corridor: it turns out that Israelis love cooking programs. Cooking, a new restaurant, dishes, chefs, most of them love this. Israelis also photograph their food and send what they photographed to someone else. And Israelis also react to it with passion: wow, how beautiful, wow, how fun.

In short, there is an interest that still unites Israelis. The controversy is great, there are parties on the right, on the left, on the right that is left, on the left that is right. There is also a party that is about to take the votes of those who will not support the party that pretends to be right, or pretends to be left.

In short, within this controversy the conclusion is clear: combine cooking with elections. That is: all party leaders will gather in one big kitchen like in “Master Chef”. Everyone will receive the same products, and everyone will have to cook something from them. After they cook, the dishes will be served to a panel of judges, which will include all streams, and also one judge who is a chef with at least three-quarters of a Michelin star. The judges will say, without knowing who cooked what, which dish is tastier. Whoever cooked the dish that wins as the tastiest will be the Prime Minister.

Of course, after the cooking competition there will be petitions about the decision. The matter will go to the Supreme Court, and then the Supreme Court judges will taste the food. And what will be tasty to the Supreme Court judges will determine. The one who cooked it is the next leader of Israel. And decisions of the Supreme Court on taste cannot be appealed, because where will we get to then. Do you have a better solution than this? You can suggest it. Thank you.

Arala calls: “Hello, this is Arala from Mifal HaPayis. I am happy to inform you that the Tax Authority won 35% of your winnings”. “What?”. “This is Arala from Mifal HaPayis. You won 250,000 shekels”. “Great, great, thank you, I don't believe it”. “True. There is a reason you don't believe it. You caught us. Not 250,000. You will receive only 162,500 shekels. There is a winnings calculator on the site”. “Winnings calculator? Are you kidding, Ariela?”. “Arala. No, really. There is a calculator on the Payis site that calculates how much tax they deduct from your winnings. In general, it is over a third. Say thank you that you didn't win a million and a half, because then it is 38%. The Tax Authority would have won 363,822 shekels, and you only 936,078 shekels”. “Ah, the Tax Authority won thanks to my winning. It really makes me happy”. “Nuisance, do you want what's left or not?”. “Yes, yes, thank you. Bring it. I'm excited. Thank you”.

Calculations and prisoners: “A teacher costs the state less than a prisoner”. (Quote from “Miss Violet”, a French period film).

I watched on TV last Saturday this beautiful film (on HOT. A relatively new film, which came out in France less than two years ago). When this sentence was heard in it, I wrote it down immediately, and asked myself: and what is the situation in Israel? I checked in several sources. It is true in Israel too. According to the lowest calculation, the cost of a prisoner is about 12,500 shekels per month. Another, more updated calculation points to 19 to 20 thousand shekels per month.

Puddle Corner: We received for our corner a letter with such lines: “Amphibious Puddle, there, tears gather like glass shoes, in silk gloves of frogs, that lost the ability to jump like a kiss”.

The writer does not want me to mention his full name, so we will suffice with the initials D.B. I liked the new image for me in the puddle: “tears gather like glass shoes”. I liked the fusion between a kiss and a jump, and also the title of the poem “Amphibious”. In short, I liked it.