Lizrael Update: babbling about the expat life since 2004
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To snow, or not to snow…
It’s 6 p.m., and all the Israeli news can report about is the impending ‘snow storm’. It’s been hyped about all day, with news reporters actually looking excited as the students who await instruction to stay home from school tomorrow. The sky has been eerie and gray and has given an extra-apocalyptic feel to the…
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Vote for Jerusalem as property on the Global Monopoly board.
Check this out from the makers of Monopoly: Have your say in the world’s first global Monopoly! I’m creating the world’s first global Monopoly so I want to know what your favourite cities are! I’ve pre-selected 68 great cities for you to choose from but you can nominate any other city you want – these…
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For an alternative means of defense.
It’s some sort of rite of passage that olim go through; the idea of “becoming more Israeli.” In this case, I don’t mean wearing flowy skirts or forgetting grammatically-correct English. I mean the process of becoming overly defensive and jumping to attack at any flare of doubt or wrongness – the process of becoming more…
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Happy Australia Day!
Nah, I’m not Australian just because I’m married to one… But the Aussie I’m married to was given Lamingtons today by an Aussie coworker in hono’u’r of Australia Day this Saturday, and he brought one home for lil ole American me. Another benefit to “mixed” marriages. The Lamington is an Australian pastry consisting of sponge…
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Sahlab! The Israeli winter milkshake.
It’s been unusually freezing here in Jerusalem the last few weeks… or maybe it’s because we have no heat in our building. Either way, there are tons of way to warm up (piles of blankets? heated argument with Mizrachi neighbor? watching the news?) but my favorite at the moment is Sahlab. It’s a warm, milky…
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Today's word: שנאת חינם
Here’s a backup to my last post in case it wasn’t enough to get my point across. I proudly observe my own brand of Jewishness – and consider it great, holy and everything else – if my alternative for spiritual ‘climbing’ is this: U.S. immigrant beaten up in ‘pogrom’ by ultra-Orthodox gang “An American immigrant…
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On high school reunions, halacha, nostalgia and everything in between.
Between running into my high school principle, the recent Flatbush fiasco and my friend attending her ten-year reunion couple nights ago, I’ve had high school on the brain in the last few weeks. High school is something I have successfully managed to block from the forefront of my mind. Part of it was my own…
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Someone has to heal Oren Zarif’s marketing campaign.
Sometimes, we have to heal the healer. I’m referring, of course, to Oren Zarif. And by healing, I mean help him out with his horribly cheesy marketing schemes. Sounds familiar? Not sure who I’m talking about? Sure, you do! Here’s a clue: There are plenty of healers out there in the world, across cultures. There…
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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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