Blog/October 2007/October 19th

October 19th (See this week's devar torah)

Hi all -

I meant to tell you last week, that I finally got on my bicycle and rode it to the center of town (a 10-15 minute walk, about 5 minutes by bike). I could scarcely believe I made it all the way without dropping over from the exertion, but I did. I even made it back home safely...

Speaking of incredible physical exertion, Sarah had her first Israeli "tiul" - her school took her class went to some river (dry of course) where the girls hiked around for several hours. Sarah came back exhausted, and was in pretty painful condition the next day. But now she's back to normal, I think.

This week I used my medical insurance, and was again impressed with the system here. I have several medications I've been taking for a number of years, and the supply I brought from the States is almost gone. So I called up my sick fund and asked to see a doctor. They gave me an appointment the very next day. I went to the doctor, and she told me that some of the medicines I take aren't used here, but there are similar replacements and she would research the matter and give me a call back. After my prior experiences with officialdom, I was pretty sure I would never hear back. As it turns out, she did call me back that very day, and told me what she was able to figure out. I went in the next day, got my prescriptions: 71 NIS (about 17 dollars) for a month's supply of medication. Not only was the care much faster than anything I ever received in the US, but is was much cheaper.

It would be nice if everything here were as efficient, but you already know from my previous missives that that's not the case. This time I went to "fight city hall", literally. As new immigrants, we are entitled to a major reduction in our property taxes. The city is supposed to give us a refund. In fact, we have been waiting almost two months for the refund, and have been by city hall several times to "check up" on the status of our refund. This time, I went and was told the reason our refund didn't get issued was because there was a "prior unpaid bill" on the account. It came as a surprise to me, since our prior bill (the one we paid) made no mention of outstanding amounts. So the clerk made an appointment for me to speak to the manager of the office, who is the one who refused to issue our refund. The next day I went to see him ... he bears a striking resemblance to Don Rickles, but without the sense of humor. He heard my argument, and looked at our prior bill (which I had brought along just for laughs). He stared, stony-faced, at that bill for five full minutes - the mental strain evident upon his face. Finally, he said to me, "come with me", so I obediently followed him back to the clerk I had met the day before (and several times previously). He then commanded her to give us our refund (which she had already attempted to do several times), and strode away. I asked the clerk when she had emigrated from the USSR, and she said it was "a while ago"; I told her sotto voce that she hadn't really left, to which she responded with a smile and the statement, "you're right".

Fun fact: there is a minimum acceptable tsedaka gift. The other day we were in Jerusalem, but I had forgotten to load my pockets with coins for the hordes of beggars. One such came up to me; and as is my habit, I reached in my pocket and pulled out a coin without looking, and gave it to him. A few seconds later, I heard a clinking sound and felt an object hit my foot -- the rascal had thrown the coin at me! Now, I know that it wasn't much; but if he really needed tsedaka one would think he would have taken it in any case ... maybe it would have been just the amount extra he needed to buy a meal?!?

Fun fact: the people most likely to exhibit 'perfect faith' are bus drivers. Who else but one with perfect faith would zoom around a blind curve, at night, at breakneck speed?

It finally rained! Yes, it rained this Wednesday evening - and not just rain, but a fantastic thunder-and-lightning storm accompanied the rain. And this just days before we add a request for rain to our daily prayers here in Israel.

I've mentioned before that I like taking the bus. It goes everywhere, is relatively inexpensive, and saves one the trouble of trying to find a place to park. They are also great for people-watching or for reading and so forth while commuting. Of course, there are disadvantages: it only goes where it goes, so if you need some odd destination you may find the bus won't help you. Frequently, the buses are quite packed, so it may be hard to get a spot. But the biggest disadvantage I've encountered so far is the dreaded "Olympian BO". Don't get me wrong: I understand that people sweat, especially in this climate, and that BO is just a normal side-effect. Normally it can be ignored. But this week I sat next to a fellow whose aura caused my eyes to water (really). There was nowhere else to go on the bus, so I managed by breathing through my mouth. Now this fellow had a clean shirt on, and wasn't overtly sweaty. One might expect he would just smell "average" - but I think he was hired by some research firm to find out the effect on innocent travelers. There is no way his stench could have been from a day or two of hygienic laziness … it must have been brewing for weeks.

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