lizrael update

So long, Stella.

I had been contemplating it for a while and came to the conclusion - not on my own, though - that Stella needed a better living situation (and so did my husband). I realized that there was no way my apartment could feel harmonious with those two animals living on top of each other. I’ve always been one to ignore my gut feelings but I guess in this case I couldn’t take the gnawing and I knew it was time to do what is best for all.

So, as of last week, she is living with a healthy-sized American family from suburban Beit Shemesh. With kids, a yard and a second dog, Stella has everything she needs now. My cohabitant is back to his cheery self again (strumming guitar and doing Green Day impressions in a Yiddish accent as I type this).

Me? I miss her. Sometimes I get home and call, “Stells!” like the old times. Ok, fine, that’s just to annoy my husband.

Here is my humble tribute to Stella, just the way I think she’d like it, minus chewed-up corners:

Free calls to Israel!?

UPDATE: Apparently the site I reviewed below is now defunct. This page gets a lot of traffic so I thought I’d help out by saying that Skype is a decent option and so is Israel’s very own JaJah. Convince your Israel buddies to get a North American VOIP line (now in British and Australian, too).

Otherwise, grow up and just call us out here. We get homesick, you know.

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No more excuses, guys. Free calls to Israel from your American phone from AllFreeCalls.net:

We do not charge you anything to make this call. Because the access number is an Iowa based number, your phone plan will dictate how much it will cost you to call Iowa. Since most phone plans include free long distance, your call is most likely free!

Our free service allows you to make free calls from the US to any of the countries listed below:

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil (Rio De Janerio), Canada, China, Christmas & Coco’s Island, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland (Warsaw), Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UK and USA.

Dial 712-858-8094. When connected, dial the number you wish to call in any of the areas of the world listed above. Talk for free!

Don’t know how quality it is but it’s worth a shot…

Thanks, sabraatheart…

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Answering anonymous.

Anonymous left this comment the other day. It’s a topic I’ve been meaning to address and haven’t had the energy to face.

So do you have any regrets? Do you feel more spiritual as a Jew living there? Does it feel like you are just living in another country, and you are just ‘comfortable?’ Do you see yourself living there permanently, even with all the ups and downs? Just curious…

I don’t have regrets. As a general rule, I just don’t. Everything we do ought to have taught us something, and if it hasn’t, then maybe you need to get your eyes fixed.

I don’t feel more spiritual as a Jew. This is a cause for letdown in my view because I never expected to be a more spiritual Jew living in Israel. For me, spirituality has been a project developing since whenever, and it’s been in a funk for a long time. Israeli society, as is, even with all its historical wonder, was never going to change that for me.

I don’t think it’s like living in another country because so much about my everyday experience is emotional. If I lived in Spain, I don’t think I’d kick myself for not speaking Spanish perfectly; it wouldn’t mean as much to do it. People-watching wouldn’t be the same in any other country. When I lived in England those six months, the feeling was definitely different. I tend to feel like an outsider no matter where I am, but here it’s almost as if everyone is an outsider, so I actually fit in.

Permanently? Who knows. Has anything ever really been permanent, except maybe the scar on my ankle? When I started out here - and even before - I had one rule: take one day at a time. I’ve been sticking to it. It’s all I can do. It’s the same as marriage, I’ve found. You can’t look at the big picture all at once or else you’ll get dizzy. I can’t vouch for five years from now, or two weeks. I just want to make it through tomorrow. That’s probably more of my own personal issue than an aliyah issue, though I’d imagine lots of olim agree.

…I do think about ‘my kids’ growing up here though. For whatever that’s worth.

Untitled, uninspired.

I have this creative energy going on, but I’m feeling stuck. It’s not just here; it’s everywhere. My schoolwork, my job. My friends. My country. I’m feeling incredible amounts of potential and no airflow.

I’m wondering what exactly is stuck; is it one thing, like a pebble in an engine? It is that the whole mechanism is just in a rut? Is it me or is it the world?

It could be the long, hard week I had. It could be the crappy news I read in the paper each morning.

I just wish I had more time to explore. It’s so cliche, but it wouldn’t be a cliche if it wasn’t so true and widespread: everyone is too busy moving to notice where they’re moving to or from or with or without. And I’m getting trapped in that spin cycle.

Time to explore, that’s what I need. And it’s the hardest thing out there to get.

Something everyone can agree on.

There has been a lot of bad news going on around my area of life; too many kids getting sick, especially cancer-sick.

Because this is a bit personal, I’m passing along a message from an old friend:

Want to shave your head for childhood cancer?

No? Well I do…. and I will… but I need your help. Please read my little blurb below and please please make a donation to help this amazing organization. You’re saving lives…

St. Baldrick’s is an organization that raises money to help find a cure for childhood cancer. Each year around St. Patrick’s Day, hundreds of “shaving centers” are set up all over the country where people have their heads shaved to show their support for the cause.

I lost my older sister, Stacy to cancer in 1991. I was only 5 when Stacy got sick and I didn’t understand the magnitude of her illness. To me, cancer meant hospital stays and hair loss. When I found out about St. Baldrick’s, it felt like the perfect way to honor Stacy’s memory and raise money for a cure. Please donate in support of a very worthy cause. Thank you in advance!

Until there’s a cure,
Michael

What I have to say after two years.

Outside my window.

This is what it looks like outside my window right now:

Not being Israeli naivete.

Sometimes I miss not being Israeli so that I could come here and feel the naive happiness at being back in Israel after however many months. Before I moved here, a year and a half didn’t go by when I hadn’t visited since I was 18. Every time I had this feeling as I’d look out the window of the Nesher going wherever I was going.

On Tuesday I went to the airport to greet my brother who is here on the Leading Up North volunteer program for the next week or so. As I rode in the Nesher back to Jerusalem, everyone certainly assumed I had just landed as well. I felt strange. I looked out the window but really I just wanted to go to sleep because I had gotten up at 5 a.m.

O.k., so it might have been different had I actually landed, even if I do live here. But still, it’s weird that something that could feel one way for so long could fade in two years.

More about the Leading Up North program:
Young Jews from around the world to rebuild north
Jewish students bring cheer to north

"Hitler was a Jew…"

…And I am his granddaughter. That’s right, folks. He prophesized that his granddaughter would one day come to Palestine and build the Zionist regime of Israel. Here I am.

(I get to make up stuff, too, right?)

When is Ahmadinejad going to get a spot on Comedy Central?

Before I land in the doghouse…

So… My tail’s between my legs. Not everyone has been as enthusiastic about my gorgeous, yummy Canaani girl as I’ve been.
I’ve been forced to focus on looking for another good home for Stella. She needs an energetic family and a yard. If we were moving out of our little Jerusalem apartment sooner, I’d try to hold on but we just don’t have concrete plans yet.

Sigh…