Tag: israel
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Thanksgiving in Israel, ceasefire edition.
I just OWNED my Americanness at our local Mister Zol. Usually my Australian huz deals with the turkey ordering and picking up. Blasphemy, I know. I’ve been passive about it because I always felt silly ordering a whole turkey at a chicken counter in Israel. So when I approached the counter, my language evolved from…
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Tzur Hadassah Anglos rally for the south!
Here’s a shout out to the awesome Anglo crew in Tzur Hadassah, which, in 48 hours, managed to rally and collect food, household items, toys and books for the citizens of southern Israel and soldiers serving on the Gaza border. Together, about seven or eight families, filled the trunk of a Ford Focus: And I…
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When a rocket reaches Tel Aviv.
Almost nothing should stop a Jew from making a chatan and kallah happy on their wedding day… Which is why, despite how difficult today was, I was determined to join the celebration in Petah Tikvah tonight. Started the car, radio came on. ‘And a siren was just heard in Tel Aviv…’ Oh. Started driving out…
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Israel Air Force by proxy: swearing-in ceremony, sabras, and planting roots.
It’s a little surreal reading up on your country’s military air strike operations in real time as you drive back from your brother’s air force swear-in ceremony. But then again, it’s often surreal living here. We made the three-hour trek down to the Ovda Israel Airforce Base to see my brother’s טקס השבעה or swearing-in…
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Heels in Israel, heart in Staten Island
Not over how odd it is to live in the Middle East and watch your North American hometown get knocked around by the Universe. [Hylan Boulevard is a river… I used to cruise along Hylan for Staten Island Advance assignments…] For the past week, my heels have been in Israel, but my heart is in…
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Highway coffee love happiness.
It suddenly dawned on me, walking along the highway outside Tzur Hadassah for the 3907584376th time… …our highway signs advertise coffee as the pit stop attraction. Maybe they did in the US too, but the icons here look like a hafuch (cappuccino). I dunno why, I just love it.
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Fifty-Two Frames: Bible
It’s amazing how much Bible exists around us when you’ve got the Book on the back of your mind… And, oh, you live in ‘the holy land.’ The holiday season… The fields of our forefathers… A trip to the Kinneret… The annual celebration of torah… Rows of pomegranate trees .. Attending a brit milah… Teaching ‘In…
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Like the Rabbanut… on Facebook.
A couple months ago, out in Jerusalem, we noticed that kashrut certificates for restaurants seem to have been updated: Hmmm… I didn’t even see it at first, but that ubiquitous blue F doesn’t stay out of your eyesight for too long. The Jerusalem Rabbanut on Facebook – how kosher can that be? So – would…
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Home.
I looked up when, among the mumbling, I heard the word ‘מעליב.’ Standing in a long, slow-moving line at a Staten Island department store, I suddenly felt at home. And yet, it wasn’t because I was in Staten Island, or a department store. She turned around to complain about the long line in English, and…
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#tomorrow12: Bloggers Q&A with Shimon Peres
I’m the one who videoed the entire Q&A session that President Shimon Peres gave us bloggers at the Israel Presidents Conference today. Below is the whole uncut video, but below that are quotes from the topics discussed. (I’ll try and update when I splice it by topic.) I was a bit disappointed the questions all…
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Why we stay in Israel: a hint.
For those wondering why I stay here… including myself… maybe this offers a hint. Because it ain’t the politics. Or the prices. The 10 Happiest Countries in the World For the second year in a row, 24/7 Wall St. examined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s report on life satisfaction in the developed world.…
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I was never an Israeli child so I’ll likely never get this.
Lag B’Omer. I’m leveling with you: as an adult olah, I will probably never ever understand fully the appeal and utter dismissal for environmental health and safety that is this 33rd day of the counting of the Omer… in Israel. Until this morning I couldn’t for the life of me remember what we Americanos did…