Category: general

Here’s my contribution to July 4th, apparently, since I totally forgot about it: Friend: Happy 4th of July. I have a question for you: If I were compiling a list of things for foreigners to know about dealing with Israelis, what would jump to mind? On cultural differences: So I’d say that there are a…

Um. I tried to translate a joke about Hungry Hungry Hippo to a Russian guy.Not that funny in Hebrew.

We took a much (and still) needed weekend vacation (including Sunday!) up North in Kfar Tavor. That, after rushing to finish the ungodly task of preparing, stuffing and mailing the invitations (after a few mistakes, obviously). It was so quiet, so unIsrael. We stayed in a bungalow surrounded by flowers and grapevines, swam in a…

When I see this boy’s face, I think of you. There you are, smiling at me on the news. It reminds me that I miss you. And then I think about how I’m glad you’re not here anymore.I hated teaching you about safety seats on the bus. When you were here, I worried, because you’re…

So a guy I know did an amazing thing.Call it social commentary, call it mean, I don’t care. It’s funny: See more here.

There’s a saying in Jewish: אם ירצה הBasically, “If God wills it.” This saying is probably the most loaded in Judaism when spoken to single Jewish women in the Orthodox community in the phrase “Soon by you.” Brides, married women, and anyone else really will say this to a Jewish single lady at a simcha,…

This is terrible. It’s the first time, even with last summer’s disengagement, that I feel unprotected by the IDF. That the IDF seems clumsy to me, like they wouldn’t be able to deal with 100s of scenarios that could happen tomorrow. It wasn’t the missed targets in Gaza that did it, though they helped. Gilad…

The country is stirring with the news of kidnapped Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.What steps to take?Trade prisoners?Who to knock out?When does Peretz go?Etc., etc… But we can count on MK Lieberman to provide vengeful smiles on our faces in the midst of it all:“MK Lieberman calls for Israel to kidnap Palestinian PM Haniyeh“

I just came from a kalla class and about to go to a wedding. I’m torn about what to do about covering my hair and keeping full niddah laws. I guess this is very personal, or supposed to be. Anyway, I haven’t felt religious in a long time, and religious to me has been in…

I spent this evening meeting with Israeli shlichim who are about to embark on individual trips across the world to engage diaspora Jewry in their home diaspora communities. I was asked to be there as a recent oleh, to discuss the process from the oleh’s point of view and to discuss/warn of my home town’s…

Working for an American hi tech company in Israel is sometimes like working in an American hi tech company in America. Most of the time, though, it’s not. I majored in English and Political Science in my BA and have experience in journalism and political actvisim. Is that enough to get me a pretty damn…