Month: January 2008
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Danger ahead: Israelis with car.
On Thursday, we gained control of one of the most dangerous Israeli weapons in the rather wide arsenal. No, we don’t have shwarma breath… We got a car. Or, at least, we’re babysitting one for a coworker for the next month until we begin leasing one of our very own from my company. Either way,…
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Tzur Hadassah in the Jerusalem Post – look at her grow!
I haven’t even moved there yet, but I feel like I’m already getting cheerleader-syndrome for Tzur Hadassah. Looks like the Jerusalem Post is either reading my stuff or recognizes the quickly-growing settlement: On Location: Between chalets and minarets The feature article starts off like this: “Nestled somewhere between the hills of Switzerland and the mosques…
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Aliyah reason #213: Shabbat leftovers.
Reason #213 to make aliyah: When you work in an all-Jewish company, lunchtime on Sundays smells (and tastes!) like Shabbat all over again. Although – shhh – I’d take Sunday off in a heart beat.
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Sephardi synanogues of Katamonim.
Something I’m going to miss about my little Jerusalem hometown of Katamonim are the amazing Sephardi beitay knesset that pepper the streets: Most of the residents in this neighborhood are some strain of Mizrachi, mainly Kurdish, Bucharian, Moroccan or Yemenite. The synagogues carpeted and fluorescently lit, reflect that. I feel 100% comfortable attending services at…
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City feature: Tzur Hadassah
Finally, I have some photos to share of Tzur Hadassah, the yishuv we are leaving Jerusalem for at the beginning of February. The small town is southwest of Jerusalem, settled in the quiet hills. It’s close to Beitar Illit and Hussan but is within the Green Line. It’s home to about 1,000 families, or 5,000…
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Coming to Israel this winter?
I find that lots of people – students or not – desire to volunteer on a day-trip basis when they come a-visiting, so I’m sharing the following: Standing Together – the organization that sells us the Sderot challot every week – has an initiative set up for tourists to Israel this next month: This winter,…
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Mount of Olives (I hope they’re green).
I haven’t done a city feature in a while, so I thought I’d share these old but cozy pictures… In the week after my wedding, my family took a trip to the Dead Sea and on the way back to Jerusalem, we stopped on הר זיתים or the Mount of Olives. It’s located in the…
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President Bush to arrive in Jerusalem.
Couldn’t President Bush just hold a conference call with the Middle Eastern leaders? I’m sure between the American and Israeli governments, someone could afford a couple of web cams. Didn’t Israel invent web cams? ICQ? Tiny USB sticks? Wouldn’t they be more comfortable discussing the impossibility of peace in a resort in Eilat? Couldn’t they…
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Today I turn three… and am no longer 'new'.
So apparently, starting today, I am no longer considered an olah chadasha (new immigrant). That seems to be the consensus from other olim, the Israeli government and Nefesh b’Nefesh. Do I feel vatik (senior)? Certainly not… But I suppose I don’t feel new anymore, either. Whatever I am in numbers or years, I know that…
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*Nudge* The kidnapped soldiers have not been returned.
It’s a year and a half later, and the three kidnapped soldiers from summer 2006 – Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev and Gilad Shalit have not been returned to us. The Keren Maor Foundation was founded to assist and support the families of these three soldiers, and to raise awareness until they are brought home from…