Lizrael Update

Lizrael Update: babbling about the expat life since 2004

  • No business like mohel business.

    Guess where the best place to shop for a mohel is? Yes, a brit mila.  We stopped by the brit of friends’ new boy this morning and as we walked out the mohel was leaving too. My baby daddy recognized him from another brit we went to at the beginning of my pregnancy.  The mohel…

  • Once in 28 years.

    I’m the type to get excited by the rare traditions in Judiasm. The kind I never heard about in my two decades of formal Jewish education. So waking up at 5:45  this morning to join a minyan on a Tzur Hadassah roof top didn’t really bother me, even after a late night of cooking and…

  • American taste since…

    Ah, the good old days. Pesach celebrated with the family back in America. My grandmother’s Sephardi dishes, my brothers’ haggadah-reading entertainment.  And of course, who could hold an American Pesach seder with the family without this gem of an experience:  Kedem grape juice! I know plenty of American olim who claim that it’s better than…

  • Everybody loves a pregnant lady.

    Something I’ve discovered – maybe now that I’m so obviously pregnant or that I’ve actually realized I’m so obviously pregnant (it took a while) – is that in Israel, or maybe just Jerusalem, everybody loves a pregnant lady.  The old guy scooping me ice cream? Big smiles and bigger scoops. “Have some more, it’s good…

  • The Messiah: Oren Zarif-style.

    If you are looking for a laugh – a reprieve from some annoyingly tedious Israeli political news lately – how about yet another Oren Zarif adventure: Healer hails TV personality Yaron London as official messiah If you ask Oren Zarif, a self-styled super-healer, the messiah has been here for some time. Meanwhile, the messiah continues…

  • I need to be schooled.

    Today we volunteered at a ‘shuk kach-ten’ – kind of a giant yard sale where you bring junk and take other people’s junk. It was at the elementary school in Tzur Hadassah. It was also the first time I have entered an Israeli school while it was in session. Kids running everywhere. Not unlike my…

  • The little vagina that could (or, My own monologue).

    Six years ago I first started to understand the Vagina Monologues sensation while studying abroad at an English university. It was thanks to two lovely ladies who I befriended and who invited me to their rehearsals for the campus V-Day performance that year. I was intrigued and going through a period of introspection so I…

  • An unlikely metaphor.

    Sometimes it’s hard to imagine something you’ve never done before. I imagine this impending adventure… to be similar to a bad trip I had many years ago.  A friend and I were spending a few days in Amsterdam. These were college years, so you can imagine what we were doing. The evening before we were…

  • Tzur Hadassah update: new council, more mail.

    Lots of interest in Tzur Hadassah these days, at least in my crowd. Thought I’d update on how the yishuv is doing since our local election and a new local council has letter-bombed all of us residents with their promises. Here are some of those promises:  Plans to finish a locale for the Tzofim (scouts)…

  • Weddings and pregnancy: cans and can'ts.

    I learned something new last night at the wedding of two friends. I’ve been to three weddings while pregnant. The last time I had been at a wedding was when I was about a month or so  pregnant and before that I was just post-pregnancy test. Last night I was eight months or so pregnant.…

  • Usually not big on excuses, but…

    I felt pretty bad about canceling my physio appointment this morning after waiting over two months since I first booked it with my kuppah. I felt worse for the people who are still waiting for their appointments  more than I felt bad for myself. I thought I’d get chewed out by the receptionist when I…

  • Still got it though.

    This morning, my husband dropped me off in front of my office and right before I opened the door to the car, I give him a quick kiss as is the morning routine. After we do this, I usually automatically peek around to see if anyone walking outside happened to see; maybe its modesty or…

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