What Is This Blog?#
Since the beginning of Operation Rising Lion, I started writing daily reflections in Derja (Tunisian Arabic). The goal: improve my understanding of Derja through short daily posts and occasional videos explaining them.
Note: After Operation Rising Lion ended and I was able to leave home, the consistency dropped. I still try to post a few times a week.
Who Am I?#
I’m Jacob Shore — middle-aged, married, father of five. I live in Israel and work in tech.
Why Learn Arabic?#
It started during a miserable company “team-building” trip to Dubai. I didn’t like the corporate culture, didn’t particularly enjoy the trip, and decided to ignore everyone and teach myself how to read Arabic. The tour guide basically became my tutor for the rest of the trip 😅. It gave me something to do and made the time more enjoyable.
When I got back to Israel with my newly acquired skills, I started noticing Arabic on every sign. That reminded me there’s an entire population here that speaks Arabic — often better than Hebrew. I wanted to understand them. But the political reality makes meaningful interaction rare and often tense.
Then, on a trip to the U.S. for a friend’s wedding, I met a Jewish Tunisian at Ben Gurion Airport. He told me about the ancient Jewish community in Djerba — an island off the coast of North Africa with a continuous Jewish presence since the First Temple period. That stuck with me.
Rather than trying to build awkward relationships with Palestinians here under difficult conditions, I decided to aim for something I actually wanted: a visit to Djerba, and conversations with Jews and locals there. So I started learning Tunisian Arabic. Perhaps when I get back I will pivot to the local dialect 🤷♂️.
It’s less about politics. More about connection — on my terms.