THE 5 MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT… Quirky Israel
| 1) |
In order to pump gas at a self-serve pump, you have to enter your teudah zehut (national identity) number and your tag number. |
| 2) |
If you want to keep getting your US magazines in Israel, extend your subscription as long as you can and then put in a change of address when you move. You probably won’t be charged extra for delivery to Israel under the terms of your original subscription. However, when it’s time to renew, you will be charged international rates, which are substantially higher. |
| 3) |
In order to get ADSL Internet service in Israel you need to deal with two separate companies. You need a regular landline, which you only get through Bezeq. You also need an Internet service provider. |
| 4) |
Solar water heaters (called dood or dud shemesh) provide hot water on demand during the summer. At least in the Jerusalem area in the winter, you’ll need to remember to preheat your water with an electric heater before you can shower comfortably. |
| 5) |
To get a cart at a grocery store, you need a 5-shekel coin or a plastic or metal plug that fits in the slot. You get your coin back when you return the cart. |
GETTIN' IN THE GAME
Ruti Eastman
People have been asking us, "Are you getting excited about aliyah?" Because there is so much to do to prepare for the movers, there hasn't seemed to be time for excitement. "We don't 'do' excitement in my family," I answer glibly, mostly because I don't know what else to tell them. "Maybe when we see the coastline of Israel, we'll get excited." This seems to work for them. "Besides, Hashem could still veto the plan; so we don't want to get too confident." But then...
THE SHMITTAH MANUAL ARRIVES.
Briefly, the Torah tells us that we must let our fields "rest" every seven years -- a Sabbath for the Earth. During that time, while we may not cultivate the fields, we are permitted to eat the fruit of the fields; but there are certain restrictions. And the fruit is considered holy, and must be treated according to special guidelines.
Anxious to learn about the laws of shmittah prior to landing in Israel this October, I had ordered Shmittah 5758: A Practical Guide, published by the Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel, many months ago. It seemed as if the manual might not make it into my hands before we made aliyah. And now it is here.
"Why are you so excited about shmittah?" my dear husband asks me. I lovingly stroke the shiny blue and white cover of the precious manual. "Avi," I answer, "for three shmittah cycles, I sat on the sidelines. I sent money to Keren Shviis, and encouraged people to support the growing number of farmers keeping the laws of shmittah. It's like I've been sitting on the bench, cheering on the team, for the last three big games. And finally, it's as if The Coach hands me the rule book, and He says to me 'Okay, Eastman. Suit up! You're in the game!' How cool is THAT???"
Baruch Hashem, Avi gets it. It pays to marry someone who understands one's analogies.
"Put me in coach/ I'm ready to play today.
Put me in coach/ I'm ready to play today.
Look at me/ I can be/Centerfield!"
--
Ruti Eastman
Baltimore -> Neve Daniel
October 10, 2007
WHEN THE ALIYAH SWITCH FLIPS ON
Yitz and Annette Berlin
In 1999, my wife went to visit Israel for her first time. I occasionally talked about making aliyah, and she finally decided it was time to see what Israel was like. My parents had made aliyah a year or so before, so she went to visit them for two and a half weeks. What follows is the email she sent me towards the end of her trip…
I hate being a cliché, but I’ve fallen in love with Israel. If it weren't for you and the kids I would not be coming back.
I understand now at least what part of my anxiety all these years stemmed from. How can a person live in a country where they are so different from everyone else, so misunderstood by everyone else, and so disliked (or at best ignored) by everyone else, and not on some level at least, fear for his or her safety?
I think for a long time I’ve felt like a stranger in a strange land, and yet, because it was where I had always lived I failed to recognize what I was feeling. No wonder I felt so anxious anytime I ventured out of our little neighborhood; on some unconscious level I realized I really wasn't safe.
I've spent my entire life in America being the odd man out. All Jews do. And I’m sick of it. And I don't want it for my children.
I want to live in a country where my intrinsic being is right. Where I’m not strange, where others are related to me by my Jewish blood and where people (even if they don’t all agree with me) at least understand me.
And, I want this for my children. But it has to be at the right time. I can’t make my children karbanos for aliyah (to quote the email I read). But when the time is right for them it is what I want to do.
When you talk to me again, ask me about the Kotel. I came away from it with a real renewal of faith. (Boy, do I hate being a cliché!) To actually have tangible substance from the days so close to the Torah was everything a person could possibly hope for and a lot more. It was amazing, and faith strengthening, it was shocking, it was vividly real, it was insight provoking, etc., etc., etc. I want to go back on another tour. I took tons of pictures.
What amazed me most is that they have excavated a sidewalk full of 3-ton stones piled up on one another. The sidewalk is cracked from the weight of the stones. How did they get there? When the Romans went to destroy the wall they did it by pushing the stones over the side to the sidewalk below.
And the stones are still there right where they left them. Amazing.
Would you believe that until now somewhere in my mind was doubt that there even was a Bais Hamikdash. And without that, it’s so easy to feel some doubt about the validity of the Torah. I must be horrible but I needed to see the proof with my own eyes before I could actually truly believe it. Will I ever be the same? Another cliché. I hate it.
I have a plan to get us back here in as little as two and one half years. But it requires research and work. And a lot of discussion.
I've had my spiritual experience everyone talks about. How humiliating to be so run of the mill!
As much as it pains me to say it, you were right. Nobody, even me, can go to Israel and still hate it.
Love,
Annette
Yitz and Annette Berlin
Baltimore -> Ramat Beit Shemesh
Nov 7, 2005
Rav Kook
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Last night, I stayed up until 5:00 AM learning a commentary on the teachings of HaRav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook. Okay, some of it was fueled by the excessive amount of sleep I got over another 3-day yom tov. And some of it was that, finally, I had no meals to plan, prepare, heat and serve.
But most of it was that his Torah sings to my soul.
In truth, I can’t learn his Torah directly. His language, even in English translation, is too poetic and symbolic for me. But the series of commentaries, called Lights on Orot by Rabbi David Samson and Tzvi Fishman takes his teachings and presents them in language I can access.
Here are some of the major points I gleaned from spending 8+ hours with the sefer. I hope they sing to your soul as well:
- When Jews live in the Diaspora, we live as individuals. This is a profound diminishment of the potential of the Jewish people. We were created to live as a klal, as a nation in our own land, not as an assortment of individual Jews.
- Jews can make contributions outside of Israel, but we do so only as individuals, not in fulfillment of our national mission. Only by living together in Israel can the Jewish people reach our potential.
- Judaism outside of Israel is temporary. It is a punishment and a curse, an incomplete manifestation of the whole Torah. And it causes people to become preoccupied with personal mitzvot to the exclusion of seeing the whole Torah picture.
To read more: http://bataliyah.blogspot.com/2007/10/rav-kook.html |
