Author: yardenfrankl

I have just achieved a personal victory in my step towards becoming an Israeli. I yelled at someone in Hebrew and won. I have already mastered the art of drinking milk from bags, and my car has a generous layer of pumpkin seeds on the floor (although to be honest, I still can’t figure out…

There are really only two types of people in America today who will stand by the side of the road and get into the car of a stranger. The first are axe murderers. Now, to tell the truth, I don’t really know if axe murderers hitchhike all that much. An axe is a pretty hard…

We have passed yet another milestone. My wife this week received her drivers’ license. Much like a Bar Mitzvah, the process involved a great deal of money, anxiety, and prayer. The first step was to visit the office of MEMSI. (More Entertainment Makes a Strong Israel). After having our picture taken and our money collected,…

The first time I heard it, I was shocked. Upon mentioning that I had in fact just moved to Gush Etzion directly from America, the Israeli I was talking to made this bizarre noise that sounded like air going out of a punctured bicycle tire. I wasn’t sure whether the person I was conversing with…

I think there are two types of Israelis. There are those who love the creation and implementation of rules, and those who enjoy finding ways to get around these rules. Whenever faced with strange and somewhat arbitrary regulations, an Israeli friend will always explain to me how I can go ahead and just do whatever…

Last week, Stella and I went to Jerusalem for our “Yishuv Test.” This is an all day psychometric examination that is required for anyone who wants to purchase a house in one of the yishuvim. The purpose of these tests is to make sure that you are “sane” or perhaps “insane” enough to live here.…

Before making Aliyah, I considered myself fairly knowledge about the current situation in Israel. We would often discuss the government’s disengagement plan and how it would affect Israel’s security in the long term. But these were just philosophical discussions. Suddenly, I was sitting in Neve Daniel, which (like most of Israel) is just a few…

I used to have an interesting ornament on my Shabbos table in Maryland. Actually, it wasn’t really an ornament, and everyone had one. Between October and January, there was no avoiding it. We would gather in each other’s homes for Shabbat meals, and invariably, someone would make a comment about the two liter Coke bottle…

Much to our children’s delight, my wife and I are now full time students. That’s right, just after they go to the bus station, daycare, and Gan, my wife and I are on our way to the Ulpan in Alon Shevut. That is where we spend 4 days a week in 4 hour Hebrew classes.…

It felt strange. Just two months ago, I was living with my family in the Maryland suburbs, driving carpools, coaching baseball, watching football. Now, I was standing in an Israeli army base holding an M-16 rifle. My family had made Aliya to Neve Daniel. A requirement of living here is that you do shmira twice…