Category: general

Today is the memorial of the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.It’s also the memorial of the death of Rachel, mother of Israel. My brother asked me if there can be a connection to make between them. These were my replies:1. Rachel and Rabin believed strongly in ways to carry on the Israelites, and…

Today’s word is brought to you by the hideous red nail polish I’m wearing. It is: שרמוטה (sharmuta) and it means “slut” (in a bad, arsie way). Example: I am thinking that my coworkers see my red nail polish and assume I’ve gone sharmuta on them. Actually, it is just for a costume I’m wearing…

Just when I thought there was nothing to publicly wonder about today… …I get to the bus stop and ask between the middle aged Mizrahi woman and young Arse guy if the 24 has passed yet. I guess that question isn’t as innocent as I assumed it was. Mizrahi woman went off for 5 full…

Hmm. I have been harsher than usual to my sub-people, the Anglo Israelis.To make up for it, I’m posting a comment made to my Jumping in post on the Israelity edition. I’ve been getting support and perspective from different sources since that post… But this one totally threw me off: “Be proud that English is…

Apparently, people are unsure whether this is a joke or not: Hmm… I’m glad there are people out there worried enough about the evils of traditional Shabbat foods to hunt them down and make them assur… A quick explanation – It’s a notice hung up somewhere about how Yerushalmi kugel is now considered forbidden for…

“I guess you didn’t get the memo.”“What memo?”“That it’s raining.” Oh. I am not going to apologize for wearing flip flops in the rain. Or the cold. I just have a hard time keeping my feet locked up in shoes (or worse – socks). Does that make me crazy? Does that make me a hippie?…

I know this is old news, but nonetheless, I’m curious how the (newish) branch of Aroma, the Israeli coffee shop chain, is doing. They pulled a reverse Starbucks in July, importing Israeli coffee to New York (coffee capital of the world? Maybe coffee per capita). Location: Wooster Street, in NYC’s SOHO neighborhood.

My friend is moving to Tel Aviv (sad). I’m still trying to understand Tel Aviv, I really am. I encounter it every so often and recognize that it is it’s own culture, but I do not encounter it enough to truly absorb and comprehend. This is a list of all I ever need to do…

Opened the window today, and there it was – the first air, the first gust of that fresh, crisp burst of cold. I love the first breeze of a new season. Note: In two weeks, when it’s damp and miserable and I’m complaining, don’t remind me of this.

We just finished watching “Sof Ha’Olam Smola” which means, “At the end of the world, and left.” It’s an Israeli saying. The movie, in short, is about the immigrant scene in the late 60s, somewhere in the Negev; the government is desperately trying to fill the desert with people (the whole “make the dessert bloom”…

I made a commitment to myself that by the end of the second year of my aliyah, I’d feel comfortable enough with speaking Hebrew to ‘jump in’ and ignore the ice-cold water around me. Look, it’s hard. I feel slightly guilty speaking to Israelis in English, but the truth is it only comes up at…

Finally. After a long year of dodging the language cracks –After a hope broken into pieces by constant disappointment –After a long, painful bureaucratic day of Israeli school – I found my true-to-the-core university experience at Bar Ilan. My last professor for today’s hectic schedule is the first professor at Bar Ilan that made me…