Tag: israel

  • Israel: Environmentally-encouraging?

    Posted under a day ago, Israeli dude Evgeny Vainshtok Broitman shared a shameful scene he witnessed at יער הנשיא, a park off the 44 and 38, near Beit Shemesh. And while the crime is so disgusting, the fact that Evgeny decided to take the perpetrator up on it means there’s hope. Apparently this guy proposed…

  • New Israeli home birth restrictions delayed.

    An update on the Israeli home birth restrictions situation: Health Ministry delaying delivery of new restrictions on at-home births The health ministry has yet to complete its labor on a new policy restricting home births. Responding to public criticism which followed Haaretz’s recent disclosure of the new restrictive guidelines, the ministry’s medical authority has decided to…

  • New Israeli homebirth restrictions drafted (where’s midwife trust?)

    From Haaretz: Israel ministry drafts new rules to restrict home births A woman planning to give birth at home will have to obtain a letter from her family doctor testifying that she is both physically and mentally sound, under new regulations being drafted by the Health Ministry that many believe are aimed at curtailing home…

  • The history of Israeli pretzels.

    A short history of flat, flavoured pretzels (bagele) in Israel… true story! If you don’t understand Hebrew subtitles or (exaggerated?) Yiddish, here’s a quick and dirty transcript: The Bagel-Bagel Factory in Poland, 1880 Son: “Father,  mother – I  have an idea! Thin pretzels – in flavours!” Everyone: “What?!” Son: “Yes, with pepper, chedder, spices!” Father:…

  • This just made my aliyah.

    I swear to the power that makes this universe run, this telephone conversation just happened (in Hebrew). Note: This was the first time in nearly 7 years of aliyah that I have ever used the word מעולה on the phone to someone in a feedback survey of their customer service experience.  “Hi! I’m calling from…

  • Todah, dentist.

    Just came back from Koala’s first time at the dentist. I’m pretty sure I managed not to project any of my own dentist dislike onto him, and maybe got him a lil too excited for it, because when we walked into the office reception he was SO EXCITED DENTIST IMA YAY! Then we got called…

  • Welcome home, Gilad Shalit, our brother soldier.

    There’s no doubt: this is bittersweet. Today we’re proud. We’re relieved. We’re emotional. We’re exhausted. Tomorrow we’re going to continue mourning. We’re going to be extra cautious. We’re going to be angry. We’re going to feel even more pain. Today we can be mothers of lost soldiers. Mothers waking up from a nightmare. Tomorrow we’ll…

  • The time has come to return to Israel.

    They’re talking to you, Israelis. The Israeli government has been enticing Israeli ex-pats back for a  while now. But it seems they’ve added emotionally heart-tugging videos to their Jewish guilt arsenal. The Returning Home Project – not just for born-diaspora Jews anymore. The campaign seems aimed at getting friends and family still in Israel to…

  • 1 in 4 Israeli elderly live below the poverty line (Shana Tova)

    Quick shout-out to Ezrat Avot, in honor of the quickly-approaching Rosh Hashana, Jewish New Year… Back in my old job, around the major holidays, we’d band together and as an office, collectively donate around 20,000 NIS to Jerusalem-based Ezrat Avot. Even though we are no longer giving together, I do hope many of us continue…

  • Don’t be colorblind.

    Doesn’t matter which side of the line you’re on. Or which color: black, white, orange, blue, or a comfortable shade of gray. We might revere the S word or despise it. But we can’t ignore it. For any stripe, it’s important we all watch it happening, to be sure we are seeing with our own…

  • Oh, THAT’S what the Israeli summer protests were about.

    Is Ynet even trying? Did they ever? Always good for a laugh, whatever the case. I still don’t know where I stand with Israel’s summer 2011 socio-economic national protest. That’s because I still don’t know where it stands. But, nonetheless, I think we can all agree: You can’t find good shwarma in New York City.…

  • Things I love: Telling it like it is to the NYTimes.

    Like this quote, from this recent New York Times article: Israel Debates Two-Day Weekends, and Its Lifestyle “People really look forward to Election Day because you get the day off and it’s not a religious holiday,” said Gil Hoffman, political correspondent for The Jerusalem Post. “The problem is that this government is so stable we…