Lizrael Update

Category: 400 thoughts

  • Where we go after we graduate…

    It’s incredible (and maybe disturbing) how the older we get, the more we lose control of our memories. There are more memories constantly being made; we don’t realize it until much later on, and by then we’ve lost control over so many more from way before. For dinner, I joined a group of Binghamton alumni…

  • The view from my office.

    “But ya know what, I can look out my window at work and think how lucky I am to live in Jerusalem and in Israel … and then, with two feet on the ground, get back to work.” Amechad‘s comment got me thinking. Not for too long, not too hard, but I what I was…

  • Aliyah realism.

    Just met with an old friend who is visiting/studying for the summer. She considers aliyah from time to time. It’s been a while since I’ve sat down for a conversation with a friend from ‘home’. Especially one who considers making aliyah. I listened to myself and realized how realistic I sounded. I don’t mean to…

  • Deliberate this.

    I’m not a particularly nice person. And certainly not always thoughtful, either. But I guess leaving New York and living in Jerusalem for two years has ingrained in me a greater sense of respect; at least, respect that transfers from words to actions. So that’s why I was stunned when an old guy got on…

  • …But money can buy morale.

    I’m in New York. I found a two-way ticket for $499. Actually, the ticket found me, and just in time. No shock that I’ve been feeling jaded and weary lately. I don’t know if it’s aliyah fatigue or general Israeli fatigue. It’s not easy living here, even if you do have food to eat and…

  • Alive and, well…

    I couldn’t stomach the Simple Life so instead I switched to a special about Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. That sentence could have a deeper meaning, couldn’t it? Since moving here, I try not to drown myself in Israeli or Palestinian sorrows too often. It’s hard, but I’ve become better at not reading beyond the…

  • Mediator-love goes 'round.

    Part 1 Wow, I got blown away this morning when I checked my email to find a message from Geoff Sharp, a commercial mediator in New Zealand. First of all, his name sounds so familiar and I’m fairly sure I’ve come across it in my mediation studies several times. Second of all, a big fancy…

  • Game theory.

    I left work early for the central bus station to get to school at a leisurely pace. Because of that, I was able to enjoy a stroll through the metal detectors and only a slight trot past the airport-security style bag scan. And to match my leisurely walking pace, my mind slowly wandered from class…

  • No cold feet here.

    It’s the days that start off gray and cloudy and dark and like all hell is about to break loose that I really feel like a permanent resident here. Maybe this is a bit terrible, but it’s kind of like that I feel when the weather is bad, there’s nothing I can do about it;…

  • Gaining experience.

    Sometimes it feels as though everyday is another humbling experience.

  • Down-lowing drivers.

    Here’s the DL on Israeli drivers. Not so DL, really. When you heard those pro-touring-Israel slogans, ‘you have more of a chance of getting killed in a car accident than a suicide bombing’ (rosy campaign, yes) – IT’S ABSOLUTELY TRUE. In fact, it’s, I daresay, TERRORFYING. On the way to university I had a lift…

  • Derech eretz kadma l'?

    I took the sheirut from Bar Ilan to Geula, where it ends, instead of getting off earlier at Binyani HaUma because I decided to experiment with the timing of that route and meanwhile get a little tour of Geula.As we (the driver, 6 charedis, and me) were driving through Geula, (which for your reference looks…