Month: June 2007

  • Today's word: kora'at b'tachat.

    Today’s word is brought to you by Amnon, a cheeky classmate (translated from Hebrew). Me: Were you in class this morning? Amnon: You could say that. Me: Did she say anything about the paper? Amnon: She said a lot of things about the paper. You want to know what we need to do? Me: Yeah,…

  • The ordinary citizens of Israel.

    I once wrote about the difference between Americans and Israelis when it comes to putting out office fires. Now I have the chance to write about Americans and Israelis in the situation of a roadside car fire. I know, right? On the way home from the North, I was jolted out of my sleep on…

  • Sderot challot.

    I should have posted this earlier so you could have done it too – but – an Anglo from Efrat started placing orders for challot from Sderot bakers to help support the city’s abandoned economy. His social action project – a part of his bigger organization, Standing Together – grew over the weeks, and challot,…

  • Seeing rainbows.

    My friend put it this way: The Gay Pride Parade held today in Jerusalem worked out well, since it was so Jerusalem. What makes it Jerusalem? The quiet chill, the relaxed togetherness of the marchers? The modest expression of pride? Whatever it is, it was, without a violent protester in sight (although there were some…

  • The differences between dancing, parading and rioting.

    It’s nearly a year since our wedding, and we still get the same reaction when the topic comes up around friends or family: Your wedding was really something – everyone danced together, it was so fun. Everyone was just so happy, for the same reason, and dancing all together. It really was something. The reaction…

  • Alternative dispute peace processes.

    Hamas took over Gaza.Fatah is looking to take over the West Bank.And so…The two-state solution has come to pass. What next?

  • Animal rights in Israel.

    While I’m sure there are a thousand other things Knesset could be busy with (apparently something like 70% of their passed laws are not implemented or enforced), here’s a change… Import of animal-tested cosmetics to be banned Education, Culture, Sports Committee pass bill banning import, marketing of animal-tested cosmetics, detergents, to be implemented by 2009.…

  • From the mouths of foreigners.

    My brother works for an office of the… let’s just say Israeli persuasion. Here he expresses what so many of us Anglo olim think everyday. Preach it, brother: “This office needs to stop thinking Israeli. Literally everyday we have conversations about how we need to change the office, but we never do. It’s all patchwork…

  • Presidential charity and the forever loser.

    Ahh, Shimmy. You’re the newest – and ninth – President of Israel. But even when you win, you don’t win. (The other candidates bowed out as Peres was only 3 Knesset votes shy of the necessary majority. The man who has served the government of Israel probably more than any other person since 1948 has…

  • Be your own Jerusalem tour guide.

    Who needs birthright Israel? This is actually pretty clever: It seems the Jerusalem Municipality has set up mp3 tour guides that you can download, along with map routes to print out, and then you can give yourself a free tour of Jerusalem. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’d love to hear if it’s good.…

  • City feature: Sederot

    Volunteering I’m a bit tired of always saying how good it would be to volunteer ’round these parts. Since I’ve been here, my newspaper has delivered the disengagement, Kassams in Sederot, Katyushas and war in the North, and Kassams in Sederot. We went down to Sederot today to volunteer with Lev Echad, which is an…

  • An immigrant's dozen.

    So, Nefesh b’Nefesh is collecting olim’s top 12 favorite things about Israel, eh? Hmm… 1. Hebrew rap 2. Tzfatit cheese 3. Children of olim 4. The fact that Israel only started mass producing ‘real’ orange juice a few years ago 5. Jerusalem bus system 6. The way in which Israeli guys hit on you (except…