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Ocober 18, 2007: Jar-dan, Give Me a Knife!
Before making Aliyah, my views on Arabs and Israelis were fairly black and white. Years of watching newscasts of Egged buses blown to smithereens along with all the men, women, and children inside had led me to the conclusion that all Arabs were really, really bad. On moving to Israel I would do my best…
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October 11, 2007: Still Weird!
Weirdos to the left of me… Last year I wrote a column about Sukkot called “I’m not weird.” I wrote about how weird I felt to observe the holiday of Sukkot in the United States. In most “Jewish Orthodox” communities like Potomac, the reality is that the vast majority of people living there are neither…
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September 6, 2007: The Wandering Jews
I have no home. It’s not quite as bad as it sounds though. In fact, it’s quiet nice. In Israel, we are always under-estimating time. When the government says that Jerusalem’s light rail system will be done next year, we hold back on the excitement. I doubt that the “separation fence” that was supposed to…
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July 12, 2007: J’Accuse!
Throughout history, we Jews have been accused of some pretty nasty stuff. People have said that the bubonic plague was caused because we poisoned all the wells in Europe. We kill Christian (and now Muslim) children to bake our matzos for Pesach. We are an incredibly poor people and live as parasites in whatever country…
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November 3, 2006: Courage
(Editor’s Note: Little did I know that I would end up working for the ALYN Wheels of Love ride!) Courage. What does the word mean? Some might say that to take on the ALYN Hospital Bike Ride is an act of courage, riding a bicycle from Jerusalem to Eilat. But that would not be correct.…
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October 20, 2006: I’m Not Weird
Let’s face it, being an Orthodox Jew is pretty weird. I say this with no disrespect intended for the traditions that are thousands of years old and that I believe are a set of rules that our Creator has “chosen” us to follow. But you know, we still do some pretty weird stuff. I just…
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September 15, 2006: Shalom Kita Aleph
.Last year, my wife and I watched with a great deal of nervousness as our children got on their buses for their first day of school since making Aliyah. Although we knew that this was the only way, and that many, many kids had successfully managed to integrate, we were still worried that they would…
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September 8, 2006: Not a Problem
Last week, our phone and Internet connection stopped working. I made a quick call to Bezeq and was assured that a technician would be speedily rushed to the scene that day. I was pleasantly surprised when a Bezeq guy did indeed show up not much later. He climbed a ladder, used some tools, and told…
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August 18, 2006: Yes, It’s Worth It
Welcome home! This morning I went to the airport to greet the latest Nefesh B’Nefesh flight bringing Jewish “refugees” from America to Israel. It was not all that long ago when we were stepping off that plane into such an unknown life. I remember feeling physically and emotionally exhausted as we stepped out into the…
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March 9, 2006: Look Inside
A few years ago, my wife was visiting Israel. A friend was driving her around when he needed to get gas for the car. He pulled into the gas station and told her to just wait a minute. While the guy pumped the gas, he went into the station. She was somewhat surprised when he…
The Hatchery: a blog about my adventures in bird watching
