Month: March 2008

  • I am not a stationary creature.

    Over the past few months, I’ve been watching people come and go from Israel. I haven’t been back to New York in over a year and it’s nearly a year since I left the country at all. If you take a look at my past passports, you know that’s a bit insane. At this point,…

  • Have a wonderful holiday of hidden miracles.

    Here’s what I love about it being Purim in Israel and being a part of an Israeli community: Coming home after a seuda with new friends (including 342674 kids) and then finding Mishloach Manot at your doorstep – I guess you could say it’s a hidden miracle that we come to Israel single and adventurous…

  • Tonight's online rally for Israel and Sederot.

    The buzz this week – around the Israel blogosphere, Facebook and my inbox – has been about a campaign called Together 4 Israel, which “is putting together the largest ever online rally in support of those living under fire in Israel. All you need to do is return to this site on Thursday, March 20,…

  • Note to Israelis: This is what a Kiddush Hashem looks like.

    This is dedicated to Israelis of many stripes – mainly the inattentive who go global traveling and give Israel a bad name, the fanatically religious who give Judaism a crazy name, and the extreme outback settlers who give Zionism a psycho name. There is a better way to be a light unto nations or to…

  • ICQ Toothpaste: Because you never know.

    The Israeli hi tech world is alive and…  brushing. Gizmodo posted that the Israeli software company that created ICQ, the instant messenger we all lost our virginity to, teamed up with an Israeli pharmaceutical company and together have created this bad boy of a Frankenstein: That’s right, ICQ toothpaste. Why, you inevitably ask? The Israeli…

  • Another opportunity to volunteer with Sudanese refugees in Israel.

    UPDATE: New info posted for volunteer opportunities to help African asylum seekers in Israel. After I posted about volunteer opportunities with Sudanese refugees in Israel, a few people asked me for more details. While I didn’t have them (but did have the contact details of people who did) I now have more information regarding an opportunity to…

  • Ynet thinks it's Monday.

    I’m working really hard to get through this busy week and come out the other end at Purim, and Ynet is trying to hold me back: C’mon guys. It’s March 18th, Tuesday. I busted my chops to get here, and I’ll be damned if you try and take me back to yesterday.

  • Today's word: תאונת דרכים

    Here’s what I get to listen to 45293436% of the time while driving home from school. It’s a loosely translated sampling of the radio D.J. on Galgalatz reading the traffic report: “And now, the traffic. Folks, take it easy on the roads out there… We all want to get home safely, and we all need…

  • A true face of Jerusalem: the hospital waiting room.

    Today I spent quite a bit of time in a Jerusalem hospital waiting room; no emergency, I just needed an x-ray. In the past few months, I’ve actually frequented Jerusalem hospital waiting rooms and have been fascinated by the faces I see and the languages I hear. I think the true face of any city…

  • Playing in our new backyard.

    In an effort to clear the mind and explore new territory, we ventured into one of the 726548724 hiking trails around Tzur Hadassah in the Judean Hills this afternoon. It was a small park leading into the ‘backyard’ of a tiny yishuv called Nes Harim, which itself offers a cafe, horse back riding, a winery…

  • Blood and books: an inevitable mix?

    Merkaz HaRav, the yeshiva chosen by the Arab gunman for last night’s massacre, is a flagship yeshiva that stands at the heart of the Religious Zionist movement and should not be confused with the extreme anti-Israel strain of yeshiva population. One Merkaz HaRav student shot the gunman twice in the head with a pistol he…

  • A different kind of commute.

    Driving home through the shtachim (territories) from Jerusalem tonight was an eerie experience. Usually I like to look out at the hills, or notice the lights, or, in daylight, watch the Arab residents traveling along the highway, in ‘their’ cabs, with ‘their’ license plates. I like to imagine sometimes the only reason we don’t mingle…