Difference between revisions of "Blog/November 2009/Nov 27th"

Latest revision as of 14:30, 4 December 2009

Nov 27th (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!

This week was Thanksgiving (a US national holiday, for you non-USA'ans). The one day a year when I, rather than Esther, make the whole meal. I'm not sure how I ended up as the Thanksgiving cook, but it's been our tradition as long as I can remember. Anyway, it's a bit different here in the Land. Most people haven't even heard of Thanksgiving, and the few who have rarely know what it is about. Stores (generally) don't carry pumpkin filling or cranberry sauce, not to mention whole turkeys... Israeli ovens are not usually that big. In any case, we celebrated by inviting our famous friend Fred and his family. An excellent time was had by all, and all the food was excellent (even if I say so myself). For you expats: if you want whole turkey, just tell your butcher... they'll order anything you want.

But if you go to the supermarket, you may want to pay attention to what happened to Esther this week. As she was in the checkout-line, just getting to the cashier -- a woman comes up and says to her, "I was in line". Esther says, "OK, behind who?". The woman replies, "Well, they're not here now". So Esther tells her, "Sorry, go to the back of the line". And the woman behind Esther says, "What chutzpah! Go to the back of the line!". So the woman, who was only looking for the real express-lane, ended up going to another line.

In humorous news: a would-be ninja in Seattle makes an ass (kebob) of himself. And in the "no, seriously!" news: the French hamster hotel is open for business. What more is there to say?

Daniela is trying to score free (or almost free) tickets so she can visit over PesaH. We would be delighted if it worked out; more delighted if she decided to make it a permanent trip. Her former roommate and a friend of hers are spending shabbat with us (they just arrived in fact). So we'll get to hear all her secrets. Tomorrow another two girls will join us for lunch; so it's going to be another lively shabbat. Good thing we have a lot of turkey left-over! (Sarah says the turkey was soooo good!)

The Obama administration's insistence that Gilo is a settlement has riled up a lot of people, for good reason. But, really, what difference does it make? As far as the Arabs are concerned, the "Green Line" lies several kilometers west of the coastline. No border of any Jewish state is acceptable to them on principle, as they have stated consistently over the years. Why chase the chimera of "peace", when we all know that is not at all what the enemy is interested in? It boggles the mind...

Until next week,
Shabbat shalom!

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 {{blog}}
-{{bheader|Nov 20th|Devar/5770/Toldot}}
+{{bheader|Nov 27th|Devar/5770/Vayetzei}}
 Hi again!
-Another wonderful week in the Holy Land!  It rained several times (even in our desert of a home-town).  I had a lot of success at work.  Sarah is recovered from her head-trauma.  Daniela and Esther are fine. The weather is fantastic right now, and in a short while ''shabbat'' will be here.  What more can one ask for?
+This week was Thanksgiving (a US national holiday, for you non-USA'ans).  The one day a year when I, rather than Esther, make the whole meal.  I'm not sure how I ended up as the Thanksgiving cook, but it's been our tradition as long as I can remember.  Anyway, it's a bit different here in the Land.  Most people haven't even heard of  Thanksgiving, and the few who have rarely know what it is about.  Stores (generally) don't carry pumpkin filling or cranberry sauce, not to mention whole turkeys... Israeli ovens are not usually that big.  In any case, we celebrated by inviting [http://jstandard.com/content/item/thanksgiving_tradition_mostly_lives_for_expat_americans_in_israel/10793 our famous friend Fred] and his family.  An excellent time was had by all, and all the food was excellent (even if I say so myself).  For you expats: if you want whole turkey, just tell your butcher... they'll order anything you want.
-First things first: congratulations to those friends and acquaintances of ours who are making [[aliyah]] in the near term -- you know who you are!  Here are a few points of advice for you as you plan your homecoming:
+But if you go to the supermarket, you may want to pay attention to what happened to Esther this week.  As she was in the checkout-line, just getting to the cashier -- a woman comes up and says to her, "I was in line".  Esther says, "OK, behind who?".  The woman replies, "Well, they're not here now".  So Esther tells her, "Sorry, go to the back of the line".  And the woman behind Esther says, "What chutzpah!  Go to the back of the line!".  So the woman, who was only looking for the real express-lane, ended up going to another line.
-* Try to improve your Hebrew to the point where you can ask for and understand directions, ''before'' you get here.  The better your Hebrew is, the easier you will find adapting.
-* Don't try to compare everything to "the way it was back home".  That's a pointless exercise, as Israel is a completely different country, in a different part of the world.
-* Talk to people.  On the bus, at the store, anywhere.  You never know who will have a job that's just perfect for you.  Or at the least, be able to get you a 'starter' job so you've got an Israeli salary.
-* Do make the effort to live within an Israeli salary.  Otherwise, unless you have a lot of money to waste, you will find yourself in trouble sooner or later.
-* Don't worry about getting a job before you're on the ground here.  It is highly unlikely anyone will hire you unless they know you are here first.  There are exceptions, but they ''are'' exceptions.
-* [https://www.paypal.com/il Paypal] now lets you access Israeli bank accounts.  However, you cannot upgrade or add on to your US account and access an Israeli bank.  But Israeli accounts ''can'' access US bank accounts.  Let's say you want to [https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=9822630 pay me for my precious advice] … it's easy!
-* Don't worry about bringing all sorts of computer equipment.  The prices here are about 20% higher than in the US, but if you buy here you won't have to worry about using transformers, and you will have local service.  That can be worth much more than the 20% premium.
-I have several relatives who suffered broken bones in the past year.  Now an Israeli medical breakthrough [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258624597066&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull repairs broken bones] in a fraction of the time it used to take.
+In humorous news: a would-be ninja in Seattle [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/theblotter/2010286564_police_would-be_ninja_impaled.html makes an ass (kebob) of himself].  And in the "no, seriously!" news: the French [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/centralfrance/6589449/French-hamster-hotel-lets-guests-live-like-rodents.html hamster hotel] is open for business.  What more is there to say?
-Bizarre Israeli news: [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258624598309&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull the bungling Bamba burglar].  I actually find [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamba_%28snack%29 Bamba] nauseating, but I'm not a kid anymore.
+Daniela is trying to score free (or almost free) tickets so she can visit over PesaH.  We would be delighted if it worked out; more delighted if she decided to make it a permanent trip.  Her former roommate and a friend of hers are spending ''shabbat'' with us (they just arrived in fact).  So we'll get to hear all her secrets.  Tomorrow another two girls will join us for lunch; so it's going to be another lively shabbat.  Good thing we have a lot of turkey left-over!  (Sarah says the turkey was ''soooo good!'')
-Less bizarre, but still Israeli news: Intel vs. [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258624595896&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull ''shabbat'' in Jerusalem].  Besides all the huffing and posturing around the discussion, there are a few salient points.  First of all, there is a "Sabbath work law" in Israel, which prohibits requiring Jews to work on ''shabbat'' except in a very few cases (security, medical, critical national infrastructure).  This is the ''secular'' law, quite apart from any religious concerns.  Intel apparently received an exemption from this law from Olmert (שם רשעים ירקב) for its plant in the south of Israel; but they did not get one for their Jerusalem plant (or so I understand).  Secondly, the Torah prohibits (as do all relevant subsequent ''halachic'' codes) Jews performing certain kinds of work on ''shabbat'' except in the case of a life-and-death matter.  Finally, even disregarding the above -- the area all around the Intel plant in Jerusalem is entirely populated with Torah-observing Jews, for whom the plant's operation on ''shabbat'' is an incitement.
-I understand that Intel is loathe to suspend operations in the plant during ''shabbat''.  I also understand that the Israeli government doesn't want to lose the revenue Intel brings in, as well as the prestige of having some of their products "made in Israel".  However, in my not-so-humble opinion, they miss entirely the point of their own (secular) Sabbath work law -- which is to preserve the Jewish character of the only Jewish state in the world.  Having Gentiles man the plant on ''shabbat'' (as has been proposed), is problematic for a number of reasons I won't go into now.  But our government, it seems, is only interested in keeping Intel happy so they can continue to rake in the benefits; and to hell with the "Jewish character of the State"!
-The commemoration ceremonies for the late {{wiki|Yitzhak Rabin}} were held recently.  And as usual, the Left took the opportunity for the {{wiki|Two Minutes Hate}} against anyone to the right of Lenin.  I was somewhat surprised, however, to hear Bill Clinton opine that were it not for Rabin's assassination, we would have had [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258027287540&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull peace within three years].  I guess he ''did'' inhale, after all.  Follow-up to my rant last week about the ''jihadi'' attack in America: here is how it was [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHM0Av5-EKc&feature=player_embedded perceived by Israeli comics].
-We're having a "new immigrant" family over this ''shabbat''.  Besides the usual salads, chicken, roast etc, we are having [[Recipes/Red Lentil Soup|Red Lentil Soup]] in honor of [[Devar/5770/Toldot|this week's torah portion]].  I also made [[Recipes/Hummus|Hummus]], and something new: [[Recipes/Kumquat-pepper relish|kumquat-pepper relish]], from our home-grown kumquats.
+The Obama administration's insistence that [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258705164141&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Gilo is a settlement] has riled up a lot of people, for good reason.  But, really, [http://www.treppenwitz.com/2009/11/when-will-everyone-realize-that-we-are-all-from-gilo.html what difference does it make]?  As far as the Arabs are concerned, the "Green Line" lies several kilometers west of the coastline.  No border of any Jewish state is acceptable to them ''on principle'', as they have stated consistently over the years.  Why chase the chimera of "peace", when we all know that is not at all what the enemy is interested in?  It boggles the mind...
 Until next week,<br>
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Difference between revisions of "Blog/November 2009/Nov 27th"

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Latest revision as of 14:30, 4 December 2009