There is a war going on in our country. Fathers, brothers, sons, cousins and friends are leaving their families to go fight this war. The people left behind remain worried, nervous and on edge. They brace for the worst and pray for the best. Wars are different when your life is touched by it - when you know the soldiers fighting. In Jerusalem, our lives are not affected physically by what's going on, at least ...
Happy Chanukah!! It is really such a delight to walk down the streets in Israel and see all the lit menorot that the municipality puts up. There are shining chanukiot on the street lights and Chabad has put up their menorah sans fire truck in the center of town. The chanukah cheer is further reinforced by the amount of sufganiyot consumed. For some reason these fried doughnuts bring a joy and happiness that surpass all other ...
I am going to institute an Israel idiosyncrasy -Ism (the triple "I") to my column because.. well why not? Banks charge you for taking out your own money. ... I know!! They charge you when you want you to use your credit card. They charge you when you want to open other savings account. I'm not sure people ever explained to them how banks work.. they are to provide a service, not make money. Maybe I'm ...
An Arab terrorist decided to drive his car into a group of soldiers tonight. I had been close to that location earlier tonight. Although, I probably wouldn't have been at the specific spot; I can't help but think what would have happened if I was. Why can't they stop? I feel such a deep sadness for people who have no other reason to live than to take others' lives. I don't want to postulate but how ...
"Welcome to Israel." No, I'm not being redundant. This is what I hear every day, many times a day. The thing is, people aren't saying it in a friendly, warm way, but rather in a sarcastic, cynical way. For example, if your apartment has bugs in it --"Welcome to Israel." If workers do a shoddy job for you but say it's the best -- "Welcome to Israel." If you stand in line for hours -- "Welcome ...
I'm heeere! After all the waiting, all the emotion, and taking care of all the specifics, I have arrived. The Nefesh B'Nefesh flight went smoothly and all the olim were treated like rock stars. How? (you are probably wondering.) Well, tons of photographers and a half dozen videographers were recording our descent from the plane. Then there were hundreds of people, including soldiers, waving flags, and singing and dancing for us at the terminal. Even the ...
When first asked to write a column about my aliyah experience - I thought that at best, it would be a help to someone going through or wanting to go through aliyah and at worst, a boring couple of minutes for someone who wasn't so interested in what I was writing. Imagine my surprise when I'm the one who benefited from the column. My last post was an emotional one and brought on responses that were encouraging and empathetic. There were ...
My last post was about the trials of packing, this post is about what I am feeling this very moment. I'm scared. It's starting to really hit me. I think what opened this dam of emotion is something my grandmother said to me. She asked if my father was sad that I was leaving. So while I figure he's not the happiest about it, he hasn't expressed anything major. But she said that when she asked him ...
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 ...
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 ...
