I will always remember Friday night. I came to a realization, an understanding, the veil of darkness was lifted from my eyes. I recall the mad dash before leaving for my brother's house, seeing online that McCain had chosen Sarah Palin for the job of VP, in the likely case that he won. Immediately, I started researching the future Veep, with much gusto and fervor. I wanted to know everything I could about her, so ...
In his weekly opinion column on August 22, M.J. Rosenberg argues that Israel would endanger Jews living outside of Israel by attacking Iran. Furthermore, he rattles off a frightening laundry list of negative outcomes which he claims would result from such an attack: "An Israeli attack on Iran—absent an imminent threat of attack from Iran—is a terrible idea for many reasons. It would not succeed in eliminating Iran’s nuclear program but would almost ...
Over the past number of years I have seen numerous friends and networking partners get new jobs. I usually send an email congratulating them, if I know the industry I will ask if I can help. I almost always let them know to feel free to ask for an introduction through linkedin. But in most cases I wasn’t very proactive in trying to drive them business. About 3 months ago I started with a new ...
This is a rite of passage that I have to take, like many who came before me and many who will after me. This column is not here to judge anyone who has a different journey and this is not a column to postulate or pontificate the best way to go about making aliyah. This is just a column to share and perhaps provide some entertainment about my aliyah adventure. And I think that’s ...
When I began my summer internship, writing about honesty and selflessness was the last thing I thought I'd be doing. I started right in the middle of one of the biggest summer news stories in Northern Virginia, which featured us at the center of the storm. A local couple found a $40,000 diamond ring in a parking garage nearby, and brought the ring ...
By: Michael Dickson The despondency that marks the two year anniversary of the recent war in Lebanon is, for me, mitigated by the happy anniversary of my Aliyah, which coincides with it. Packing to move to Israel as rockets rained down on the North and the IDF was being tested by Hizbullah was a strange experience indeed. So bizarre a lifestyle change was I apparently making, that ...
The week didn’t go at all as I expected. When Jody made plans for her and Amir to go to Cleveland for Jody’s grandmother’s 90th birthday at the same time as Merav and Aviv were to be in sleep away camp, I thought: this is great. I get the house all to myself. Peace and quiet to work without interruption. Plus I can do whatever I want, whenever I want with no responsibilities. I can ...
I used to hate Tisha B’Av. I hated its sadness and discomfort. I must be getting older because now I long for it to begin. A friend of mine died a few days ago. His death silently hangs in the air awaiting my attention. Sadness is a part of the natural rhythm of life, but I rarely let it in. In the past it has always been an unwelcome guest in the domicile of my being ...
Israelis are full of ideas. The Silicon Wadi is only behind the Silicon Valley in terms of sheer numbers startups. One guy, Shai Agassi, is working on a viable electric car, hoping to make Israel (and the rest of the world) no longer dependent on oil. But this summer, this same guy was the Chief Scientist at eCamp Israel. The place where young Jewish geeks go to spend their summer creating, learning, networking, and a ...
Since I gave such a grand introduction to this blog, I shall now start to back it up. Want to guess the #1 question people ask when I say I'm moving to Israel? The reaction after I tell people is always interesting. Some of my friends nod like it is the most natural thing in the world for me to do, and others are taken aback. Yet, they still all ask that same question. Did you know what ...
