This has been the hardest week since my first week in Israel. It has become clear to me that my coworkers don't really care if I have a life outside of the office and would prefer that I sleep there (as long as I would pay rent). If they had chained me to the desk I would not have known as I rarely left my chair. This has been one week but I feel like I have aged a full year.

This has been extremely depressing to me as this move was supposed to be a lifestyle change. I have done this all before and I counted down the seconds that I could leave my last prison swearing to never return to that lifestyle - where I have little to no control over my life.

When I was recruited here I was definitely told my lifestyle would be different which really upsets me. I realize now that I am the same monkey working like a dog.

I do not want to get into more detail about my depressing week (as it only depresses me more), but I am seriously questioning one of my major life goals.

As you all know, I consider myself to be very low maintenance (or as some of you put it "cheap"). I have no problem living on the bare minimum as long as that allows me to have more time. Basically one of my goals is to make enough money so that I can comfortably support a family on interest.

I can't say I am close to the goal yet, but in this profession it would most likely be do able when I am still youngish (obviously later years there is higher salary). The question is, is it worth trading your best years (your 20/30's) for later years. I use to think yes, because it's a few years verse who knows how long, but I am starting to think otherwise.

I am thinking more and more the 9-5 derech is just a better way to live.

I am now exhausted and am heading to sleep.

(Oh yeah, and we don't get off for New Years or Xmas...)

Oh and sorry this blog has been such a drag lately and unfunny. Hopefully life will be better soon and I'll be humurous again... I for one hope so.

The custom of not learning X-mas eve is one I am really really good at. You know how it is recommended that you pick one mitzvah to devote yourself to? Well this is mine.

Actually I did accidentally learn last night as my computer music was on random and a shiur popped up from R. Schreiber which was excellent. So in truth, I am not even good at nittle nacht. How sad. Maybe next year.

(And yes I do believe the idea of nittle nacht is ridiculous. I can only imagine it began when one chasid was chiding another about not showing up to seder the night before and him coming up with a ridiculous excuse like, "Um, of course I wasn't in seder last night. It was Jesus's birthday, idiot..."

X-mas in Israel was unremarkable - rightfully so. I worked. (I think I did that in the States too.)

Thank y'all for the birthday wishes. They are much appreciated.

I'm 24 now. But I'm happy to say that I still have the same maturity as I did in High School. People always told me "when you grow up you'll understand", but yet, I still do not understand any of it. Heck, I don't even remember what I was supposed to understand anymore. So maybe I have not reached that maturity level yet, but boy am I waiting. (I stayed up past 12 AM just to see if at midnight I would gain this wisdom, but I did not. I then stayed up another 7 hours just in case my wisdom was still on Eastern Standard Time.)

So how did I spend my birthday you ask?

6 words: Heroes of Might and Magic IV

I used to be addicted to an earlier version of this game and would play it for hours on end during high school with Dave. I haden't kept up with the game since Yeshiva, but my roomate had it so I decided to start playing again (this was Wednesday night). (I'll try and explain my obsession with video games in the future.)

I decided on my birthday I should do what I enjoy and why not. Sure I had more productive things to be doing today, but on one day I can be a glutton and indulge myself in whatever simple pleasures I enjoy - such as video games. I find that I get the most enjoyment out of things I can do for (nearly) free such as computer games, reading, and music. Some of the best days I can think of were days I took the whole day just reading a great book from beginning to end. (I highly recommend this if you have never done it before. The first time I did this I think I read "Death of a Salesman".)

So although this was a mellow birthday and some of you are probably reading this and thinking, "wow, that is so sad...", an 6-7 hour game (short mainly because of Shabbat) of Heroes was really what I wanted to do. (People are also probably thinking that the title of this post was somehow related to that sentiment but really I chose it because when I thought of a title the first thing that popped into my mind was Janis Joplin's song.)

Well now that I am once again addicted to the game, it may be hard to weed myself off. I think I will do it cold turkey like I ended my heroine addiction. Although that didn't go so well, but that is for another time.


"It’s all of our birthdays this summer
One number older, another year younger
I’ll go to your party, you’ll come to mine
We’ve given up cigarettes, we’ve given up wine
We’ve given up caffeine and sworn off desserts
I don’t try to seduce you, we don’t even flirt
We’re too good to be happy, too straight to be sad
So just blow out the candles, Happy Birthday

Stay out of the ocean, stay out of the sun
Stay in perfect shape and be number one
We’ve got brilliant excuses for having no fun
So blow out the candles, Happy Birthday"

Carly Simon

Israel Unemployment: Lowest in 20 years!

Most of this unemployment is frictional unemployment, which includes: “people quitting jobs, getting fired, moving, just graduating from school, reentering the workforce after having children, and so on.”

Israeli economy will be strong in 2008

“The bank estimates that the dollar will trade at 3.75 NIS by the end of 2008, and that this exchange rate will hold steady for 2009 as well.”

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3483257,00.html

Once again, my Ebay shopping for clothes has been a great success.

Some of my latest purchases:

Brooks Brothers Shirt

Ebay: $15

Brooks Brothers: $80

Total Savings: $65 or 80% (including shipping)


Ralph Lauren Shirt

Ebay: $15

Ralph Lauren
Total Savings: $65 or 80% (including shipping)

There are some people I would not recommend this type of shopping to, but for someone like me, that sits in front of the computer a lot - this is truly ideal.

Today I called a friend of mine that I haven't spoken to in several months to see how he was doing. He got married within a year ago and the last time I saw him was probably at his wedding. He is a very intelligent, hard-working, friendly, ben-Torah who I always considered to be one of my more zionistic friends and I always thought he would definitely make Aliyah. Unfortunately, he shocked me today by informing me that his wife and her parents can't live apart - so essentially his Aliyah dream is dead.

Rav Shachter gave a shiur some year ago at Mt. Sinai (I believe it is on Torahweb.org) where he says Aliyah aspirations should not be among the pre-date questions. When I first heard the shiur I agreed with him wholeheartedly, and even advised some friends to follow that advice, but after today I gave it some thought and I think he is wrong. (I know some consider me disrespectful for disagreeing with HaRav but I am confident that he would only encourage me to voice my dissenting opinion.)

The location of where you want to live and raise your family is a vital issue and should clearly be addressed before getting married. Why not get it out of the way at the beginning like genetic testing? Why waste time dating someone that doesn't want to raise their family in the Holy Land, regardless of their reason? Where you raise your family will have a major impact on your progeny and what your legacy in this world will be.

Obviously personality, midot, hashkafa are important, but let's be frank, doesn't a commitment to Eretz Yisroel say a lot about one's devotion to religion? As much as we like to joke about how Bnei Akiva is only focused on Israel at the expense of Torah, doesn't Israel and Torah go hand in hand? Wasn't Bnei Yisroel punished for not returning to Eretz Yisroel during Ezra and Nechemia - regardless of their reason? (And I am sure many used the Torah, family/friends and parnassa cards.)

If Rav Shachter would agree that asking whether a guy or girl is a ben/bat torah is an appropriate question, then asking if someone plans on leaving his homeland, the place he was born, his parents home to live in the land God chose should be just as valid.

(I for one am glad that I am not dating in the U.S. right now so I don't have to ask the silly question: "Do you plan on making Aliyah?" To which the answer is almost always yes, even though most have not given it a bit of real thought yet - but know the correct in vogue answer is a wholehearted yes. )

I am constantly troubled by people that say they want to make Aliyah but then don't. Are these people lying through their teeth? Just don't think before they speak? Live in a fantasy world? On drugs?

If you want to make Aliyah - DO IT!

I am very impressed with my friends the Erdfarbs that recently made Aliyah. He left a very good job at a very prestigious firm because his plan when they got married was to go to Israel within 3 years and that is exactly what they did. I find it very rare that people actually follow through with these declarations. (My joke was always that I have a 10-year plan on making Aliyah - no matter how many years went by it was always a 10-year plan.)

I am reminded of Al Pacino's remarkable speech in Scent of a Woman when he says, "Now I have come to the crossroads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew. But I never took it. You know why? Because it's too damn hard. Now here's Charlie; he's come to the crossroads. And he's chosen a path. It's the right path. It's a path made of principle, that leads to character. Let him continue on his journey."

I believe most people do generally know what is right and what is wrong, but they choose the easy path. It is easier to stay in the same place than move to another so that is what they do.

I understand my friends issues, and I wish he never would have gotten into this sort of problem. But now that he is there, I hope anyways that someday him and his wife will be able to realize his dream.

(And yes I realize I have not made Aliyah - but at least I'm giving it a try, tough guy.)

I decided to leave Givat Shmuel this weekend - unfortunately not under the best circumstances. A friend of mine from the sates unfortunately suffered the terrible loss of his one month old first born son and was sitting shiva in Allon Shvut. I normally would most likely not make a 2 hour commute for a shiva call but I know that most of his closer friends are in the U.S. and that anyone that he would appreciate seeing any friendly faces. I figured that once I was travelling that far I may as well stay for shabbos.

So I contacted my good buddy D. Erdfarb who invited me to stay over at his kollel apartment.

Friday morning we had pancakes in my apartment. This is becoming a near weekly ritual and it is becoming one of my favorite points of my week. There is a female friend of the apartment that comes over regularly and she volunteers to make fresh pancakes from scratch. (I do not know if this is a lot of work, but they taste great so I am grateful.) I am very into these simple pleasures so it's really great. All I need to add to this is hot chocolate and I am set. (This week was Cappuccino so it was still pretty good.)

I stayed in the guest bedroom at Erdfarbs with an American mattress and it kept out all the light - it was a terrific sleep. (I made sure to utilize it Shabbos day too.) D. and I were chavrusas together in YU in Rav Willig's shiur. He has a very cute son (that I am now good friends with even though he only calls me "abba's friend") and his wife is expecting soon too. It's great to see friend's families growing so fast.

As I already updated about Gush in the past there is not much to say. Although they do have new fish in the moat around the Yeshiva which is awesome.

Motz"sh I paid the shiva call and it was very painful and sad (as expected). After that I tremped back to Yerushalaim which was great fun, for no other reason than when I am asked: "Where to?", I can answer like the hitchhikers in movies: "As far as you can take me." (And hope they understand that means J'lem...)

I met up with some buddies in J'lem after and we went to Off the Wall Comedy Club which is run by David Kilimnick, the brother of one of my other YU chavrutas. Unfortunately David wasn't performing as I have seen his stuff on Youtube and some of it is hilarious. (My review of the place is below.)

Afterwards I went to tachana, got some dinner, popcorn (15 shek for medium) and deodorant (28 shek for small Axe deoderant!) and headed back to G"S.

Overall it was one of my busier weekends.


---------------
Off the Wall Comedy Club - Review

The first performer, the hostess of the evening was absolutely terrible. Not even in the, "wow she is so bad its funny" way even. It was more of the "oh my god this is unbearably painful does someone have a fun so we can just end this now" kind of terrible. Mid performance she actually asked me "Sir, are you having a goodtime? You don't seem to be laughing." Since I did not want to be a jerk, I merely feigned laughter rather than responding "I am not laughing because there has been no good jokes yet. I have received funnier email forwards than this."

The next guy was an 18-year old who's supposed to be in Yeshiva now but instead is wasting his year doing medicore standup. Some of his stuff was ok, but some of his jokes were just dumb.

The next guy was a guest appearance by I think part owner Jeremy. He reminded me of the type of guys you see in NYC on a random weeknight. He was ok, but I'm not very into his type of delivery. I can imagine a full show by him is probably pretty good.

The last guy, however, was hilarious. His jokes were all very topical and well delivered. I wish I remembered his name so you could see him if you ever visit. It was 8 oclock show on december 16, so you could probably check the website and see who it was. (My favorite jokes were about Aliyah experience, Facebook, and Yeshiva)

The show cost 30 shekel (student 25) , plus a mandatory drink (8-20 shekel). Overall I would recommend giving the place a try. I thought the decor was fairly good, and it had a good atmosphere. I like that the shows are not dirty and there are no curse words, no vulgarity, and no inappropriatness. (Something you will rarely find in NYC.) I think next time I will do more research into who is performing before going though. It was a great idea by Kilimnick and I wish him the best of luck. It is worth visiting just to support the endevour. He also has Hebrew nights. Probably a good place to take a date too.

So far, Chanuka in Israel has been, to say the least, underwhelming. I hoped celebrating Chanukkah in Israel would be like celebrating X-mas in the states. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. There are no blue and white lights ornamenting the streets, no gigantic menorahs that rival the giant tree in Rockafeller Center and no Judah the Macabees giving out presents. (I have not seen these things, although they may exist.)

I actually miss the Xmas atmosphere to a degree. NYC during December is really beautiful and has a great atmosphere of good-fellowship.

I also miss Chanuka presents so have purchased myself some, but nothing too exciting. (Two shirts off Ebay.)

I have been to several Chanukkah parties in town, but I can’t say I particularly enjoyed them that much. I never was very big into large social gatherings for the sake of mingling. Even though I know I really should be mingling in order to meet people, I find most of these cocktail conversations to be “shallow and pedantic”. I generally prefer smaller gatherings where conversations are more focused and developed.

This is a real conversation that I had with a friend at a recent one of these parties:
Me: Hey!
H: Hey!
M: How’s it going?
H: Pretty good, thanks. Yourself?
M: Not bad.
(Pause, me looking at my shoes.)
M: So... I have nothing else to say…
M: I’ll see you later.
H: Sounds good….

It reminds me of the Great Gatsby line: “I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.” (See, I have retained something from high school.)

I haven't written lately mainly because there just isn't much to say. Life is going on as usual.

Israel pay day is once a month :(

Below is an except from another blog about his language difficulties moving to Japan. I wish they had a book like that for Hebrew....

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The other day I was at my local Barnes and Noble and I came across a Japanese language textbook. Weirdly, even though I’ll be going to Japan in the very near future, it hadn’t even occurred to me to start studying the language.

On the cover of the book there was a picture of a smiling blonde man. He was standing there proudly, with his arms folded across his chest. All around him there were Japanese people – young and old, male and female. They were also smiling, and each one was giving the “thumbs up.” They approved of him. They saw what he was bringing to the table, and they liked it.

It occurred to me that, if I bought this textbook, I would one day become just like that blonde man (albeit a much homelier version). By studying the text diligently each day, my ability would get to the point where I too could have a happy Japanese entourage of my own – one that I could take with me to the park or to the mall. I would be a benevolent master - firm, but respectful, and beating them only when an example needed to be set for the rest of the group (and seldom for my own dark, erotic pleasure). This kind of thing could really do wonders for my self-esteem, I think.

Of course, this is just a pipe dream. You and I both know that it can never truly be. Even if, one day, I am surrounded by a group of happy Japanese people, the circumstances will likely be very different. For example, I will probably be curled up in the fetal position on the ground, and the others will be holding picket signs, torches, and/or small armaments. Or perhaps I will be tied to a stake, and the Japanese people will be dancing around it, performing mysterious Shinto rites. I think that would be a neat textbook cover – and one that truthfully depicts the progress I will make in my cultural studies.

I ended up buying the book. It was a thin volume with plenty of pictures. These pictures were meant to make learning fun.

And it worked. I really did learn something. I learned that I have almost zero capacity to learn new words. I did a few hours of work, but there’s only one phrase that still sticks in my mind: “Aka no ringo desu.” I think this means “It is a red apple.” This is probably the most useless goddamn phrase someone can learn. If I were to actually say this, I’m pretty sure the other guy will respond with the Japanese equivalent of “No kidding. Go back to where you belong, white devil.” Overall, the textbook is useless. It uses pages from Japanese comic books so the reader can get a feel for how the language is naturally spoken. This is great, but the problem is that my life in Japan is probably not going to resemble the life of a comic book action hero. I’m not going to have any use for phrases like…

- Why do you run away? You really are the true killer aren’t you?

- All right. The helicopter you demanded is ready. Release the hostage.

- Inside the most heavily guarded chamber on earth, I finally have the privacy I need to dig whatever I can out of that thick skull of yours.

And the winner is:

- Now that you mention it, I see that she only gave you omelet and baby sausages.

What a crappy textbook. If I am ever in any one of these situations, my weak handle on Japanese grammar is going to be the least of my worries. Especially with that last phrase. Can you imagine ordering a Big Breakfast and not getting the tater-tots? Even just thinking about it kind of irritates me.

The more I read my text, the more confused I became. The more confused I became, the more I started to question my decision to hang my hat in the remote island-nation. I don’t even know how to say “Yes.” But I know how to say anything related to hostage takings, and I know the phrase for “It is a red apple”: a sentence that, for an American in Japan, is only rivaled in uselessness by the phrase, “This is a Dutch craft. Do you like? Please say you like.”

And finally, let me say “thank you.” Thank you, people of Japan, for having three alphabets – one of which has roughly 50, 000 letters – many of which consist of five or more strokes. And thank you also for having so many words that sound almost exactly the same – like ningen (human being) and ninshin (carrot). This practically ensures that I will, at some point, order human curry. Or, when I run into my first of many problems with immigration, I will tell the officials that I am a carrot and I deserve to be treated like one.

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Just to give you all a heads up on whats been going on news wise...

Earthquakes - we had 3 last week - and I missed all of them :( Let's hope we don't see anything larger than a 5.0. According to some articles I read a 6.0, last hit in the 1920's when 800 people died, could mean a death toll of 18,000! A crazy number that I believe, because most construction here is done with poor cement.

Jerry Seineld - is LOVED in Israel. He has literally been treated like a king, meeting Olmert, Peres, and being taken to all the places royalty normally visits. Some newspaper articles said he is more talked about that than the Annapolis convention which I believe.

Annapolis - If you guys missed this one, I don't know what to say. I have little to say about the convention except that if it leads to nothing that will be no surprise and if it does lead to something, we can see the face of Israel changed. Places such as the Golan Heights, portions of the west bank, and even East Jerusalem may go the way of Gaza. It is very scary.

Teacher Strike - With Olmert out of town it is going to be tough to continue the teacher strike. Does anyone really think Olmert will be thinking about this at Annapolis? (In Tel Aviv I have definitely seen more protest about the Teacher strike than Annapolis.)

Israel New Record - We now can claim the largest flag in the world. Someone made a flag over 5 tons. The opened it next to Massada. Pretty nuts. Another thing to be proud of... I guess...

On my end - Shabbos was chill, I stayed in.

Thanksgiving was excellent (even though it would have been nice to have been home with all of my relatives.) The Hindens had to track down all of the pieces of a turkey because Israel doesn't have whole ones. It was delicious.

When I went to buy an umbrella this morning, as the rain has yet to stop even a little (yes, the sky is falling), I realized how poorly thought out my Hebrew education has been.

Why can I say "Do you have an axe" and not "do you have an umbrella?"

The reason I can say axe is because we spent a lot of time reading stories by Shai Agnon and counterparts, including one story that referred to an axe (for chopping down a tree...)

I think I would have been better served if our education was more inline with ulpan I once took at Hebrew U where you read Israeli newspapers and listen to Israeli radio where you can hear the words people really use.

In the end of the day I probably still would not have learned anything as I was still set on "sticking it to the man" (and still am)

So in conclusion, I still do not have an umbrella. I am cold, wet, hungry.

Update: I am not so much hungry anymore as I have just eaten 2 krembos. Make that three.

Lots of rain here. I feel like Forrest Gump wading through the river. Someone told me there was a water shortage in this country?

Today we had an earthquake. I think I went to the restroom and missed it. Was pretty weak. (Thank God I suppose.)

I have heard from two of my friends in the states recently that they were approached by a company to work in Israel. Clearly the economy in Israel is HOT. Please do not use the excuse of not making aliyah due to lack of job opportunities in Israel. Especially if you have never looked. People in this country are doing well - some VERY well. I reiterate once again, the "poor" that you read about in Israel are generally poor by choice. (Except for the teacher situation - which is the fault of the country's socialistic attitude towards education.)

Once again, do not use the finance excuse anymore as you are like a meragel bashing Eretz Yisroel. You make the Israel economy look bad when you say there are no jobs, and you make yourself look bad by saying things you know nothing about because you haven't looked.

This past shabbos I was in Neve Eliza (sic?) at my cousins. It was a pleasure seeing them as they are the only part of my (extended) family that has made aliyah in the past 20 years. (Excluding my great grandparents that made aliyah to Bnei brak for 6 months and then came back.)

It's always great to see the brave idealistic people living in the areas that are always being spoken about being given away. I was told Gaza was just as beautiful before it was given away. I can't imagine how they could every give away these towns. It is mind boggling. They are really a tight nit community too.

The prices on the houses in these towns are amazingly low. Supposedly the most expensive houses are in the $250,000 range. I can't say they match American homes in terms of size, insulation, etc... But for Israel they are gorgeous. We saw some really nice ones that overlook the border of the tribes of Ephraim and Menashe. I am really considering looking into purchasing one in one of these areas. WHEN there is peace, these properties will be worth at least double. (I guess I should stop valuing houses until I have the money to one first... And I also figure it would be pretty strange living in a giant house alone - although I think it would feel a bit like Al Pacino at the end of Scarface when he's protecting the mansion all by himself. And I could get a huge security system that I could watch all night. And get a huge gun collection. Yeah...

On another note... I am also considering stopping to blog (or stop blogging). Although it doesn't take that much time it takes some time and I have so little of it!
My list of personal goals for the year, in no particular order, continues to grow:
1) Perform my job to excellence.
2) Become an expert on the Israeli economy (and begin understanding Israeli politics to a greater extent)
3) Find a wife.
4) Improve Hebrew skills.
5) Pass the CFA 2 (this is more like a dream now).
6) Finish Baba Kama
7) Improve my knowledge in economics and finance
8) Start/support a non-profit organization of sort
9) Stay in touch with you guys back home

So as you can see, there I have a lot of ambitious goals this year and I am still trying to work on my time management skills. I am not sure how much this blog is really helping me do number 9 as I still find myself calling most of you and your like "oh sorry I haven't read your blog, so whats up..." And what I find really surprising is that my hit counter surpassed 500 unique hits this week. So clearly I am writing to a different audience than I intended a tad. I may continue to blog, but most likely change the format a tad - any suggestions let me know. And if y'all have any help on the above list of goals for this year it would also be much appreciated. (If someone would like to learn baba kama for me that would be very helpful as it is very long. When I made that a goal I thought it was only 2 artscroll books, but its 3!!!)

So I may be making a 10) Helping educate people about life in Israel and the Israeli economy, which will tie in nicely with 2. I will have to see how much time it really takes to write each of these blog posts. I may limit each post to 15 minutes of writing. We shall see.

I went to the Gush this last shabbos and stayed by my good buddy A. Hershkovitz. A. and I called up one of our friends who left me a rather enigmatic voice mail Thursday night saying “Call me back I have really good news!”

Based on my prior experience with these phone calls there were four possibilities what this good news could be:
1) “I’m engaged!” – This is usually what the good news is but this fellow was not dating anyone when I left to Israel about a month ago. (35% chance)
2) “X is engaged” – This could be possible but most of my good friends that get engaged generally call me directly rather than have someone else call me. Also he seemed too cheery for this to be good news about someone else. (20% chance)
3) “You’re engaged!” – This has never happened before, but you never know. I would imagine I would know before him but you never know. I lead a busy life. (10% chance)
4) “I’m moving to Israel” – This was the only other possibility that I thought had some chance of being real. Maybe my example led him to move to the Holy land as well? (35% chance)

Well in the end of the day he was engaged! It’s always good to get good news, especially erev shabbos.

So shabbos began very good and the rest of the shabbos continued in the same nature. It was fun to feel like I was back in Yeshiva again and to see all the new students that are now in the same place I was five years ago. It was amazing to sit back in my makom where I probably sat over 4,000 hours during my year. I started Bava Kama and hopefully I will be able to finish it by the end of the year. Ambitious but do able.

The only negative was that Gush is sooo cold. I thought Jerusalem was cold on Friday, but Gush was even colder. The only plus about Gush during the winter is the awesome fog. I remember one time I couldn’t find my way to the Yeshiva from the dorm because it was so thick. Baruch Hashem Givat Shmuel hasn’t been that cold, but it has been getting chillier.

On shabbos I also ate by Moreh Yaakov, my second grade teacher and chavrusa during Gush. It’s always a pleasure to see him. Throughout shabbos and m”s I saw old Gush friends that I haven’t seen in years. It was terrific.

The Israel economy is is rocking: According this Article :

"Economic growth is forecast to reach 5.2 per cent this year, fuelled by rising consumer spending, buoyant corporate investment and strong exports. Unemployment has fallen steadily, and now stands at just 7.8 per cent – down from almost 11 per cent four years ago...

Investment banks such as Morgan Stanley forecast that not even a slowdown in the US will stop the Israeli economy from “growing at a reasonably robust pace."

This article is about a year old but I imagine they are seeing similar trends now:

"Headhunter Minna Felig once told corporate lawyers that Israeli firms hired one or two months out of the year. That was three years ago. Now, she is swamped with job openings all year long.
"Every law firm I work with is incredibly understaffed," she says. "I can't keep up with it. The workload has increased twofold.""

And for anecdotal evidence, 3 people have been hired at my firm in the last two weeks and today a firm wide email was sent out for someone to fill a higher level position.

People: If you are serious about moving to Israel NOW is the time to do it. You should be able to find a job in this environment.

There are obviously people in Israel missing out on this robust economy: Article Article 2

A new Israeli survey reveals that 70 percent of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men have opted for religious study instead of joining the country's workforce, the Haaretz newspaper said on Sunday.
The survey, carried out by the trade, industry and labour ministry and two private organisations, found that 50 percent of ultra-Orthodox women were similarly unemployed due to lack of skills and the burden of child-rearing.

But that was their choice.

Realize when you read that 20% of Israel lives under the poverty line, these are people that do so willingly. If you are educated you can get a job in this country.

(Obviously jobs are not just given to people - it's like America. There is strong competition for every position. Different fields are hiring more than others too.)

I just remembered I had planned to make a post about this but I have been busy. I don't know if the whole Yigal Amir story is big in the U.S. but it is an absolute disgrace and another egg on the face of the Israeli government. In short, the Israeli government allowed Prime Minister Rabin's assassin to meet someone, get married, have a child and attend his child's bris - all while in jail! It is no wonder he has "no regrets" for his actions.

This is a big story now because Rabin's yirtzheit was this week and Yigal and his wife purportedly decided to have a c-section to deliver their baby early in order to coincide the bris with the yirtzheit.

I think Israel needs to get a bit tougher on their punishments. Particularly this one. Treason and murder undoubtedly deserves death.

(Note: Just because I think Yigal deserves the death penalty does not mean I endorse Rabin's politics.)

So today I Baruch Hashem had some time at work and decided to take advantage of the gym in our building. As most of you know, I am not much of a gym person but prefer to get my exercise through bike rides, basketball, swimming, roller blading, and electric scooters. Well anyways, I decided to give it a chance.

It's not as if I have never gone to a gym. While at YU I would frequent the gym about once a month and pretend to know what I was doing. That is what I had planned to do today, but unfourtanetly the personal trainer guy at the gym saw I was completely lost so he took my under his wing and had me do a bunch of stuff and at the end I was ridiculously exhausted. Not only exhausted but nauseos and near sick. After he said "I'll see you tomorrow", and I was like "Maybe next week..."

Before I forget...

My cousin G. Dotz, did have a good point that the NY Times has been targeting the Jewish community. (Three articles: Noah Feldman, Sefardim and Ashkenazim, this one.)

It truly is a disgrace and I don't understand why anyone reads the paper anymore. I personally never open the paper, nor visit the website unless someone sends me an article (such as this one). I would love to see the paper purchased by a wealthy Jew just to close it.

The only redeming factor of these articles is that some of these issues are serious issues that need to be addressed within the Jewish community. The only problem is that the article may spur some discussion but we have not reached a breaking point on any of these issues yet to really create change.

Tonight was amazing! My company hosted a private party for clients and band members from Kaveret including Gidi Gov played a concert! It was terrific!!

There are only maybe 5 israeli bands I know and maybe 15 israel (rock type) songs that I know, Gidi Gov being about 4 of those songs. It was truly amazing. I sat about 100 feet from the stage. Probably one of the best (non-wedding) concerts I have attended.

I am only upset that I didn’t understand all the songs and jokes because of Hebrew. I think my impetus for learning Hebrew has now come – in order to be able to understand jokes. I think I am going to start my education by learning more Israeli songs and reading the lyrics in Hebrew/English. It also would have been nice to have invited someone. I hadn't thought about it until I got there.

I can't say I've attended that many concerts in my life, but I can definitely say this concert was better than most Jewish music concerts I've seen and definitely better than Ted Nugent.

BTW- Gidi Gov reminds me of Dustin Hoffman.

I know this article is supposed to upset me, but I have been identifying less and less with the chareidi community over the last few years. Yes, Chareidis are not the Taliban - but if you need to think hard to find the differences then there's a problem.

I've been busy this week - Baruch Hashem life is great. Work is terrific. I finished reading "The Happiness Hypothesis" (thank you A. Gruenspecht for that going away present), I will most likely have some things to say about the book in the future. Parts were very interesting.

A friend from YU (E. Figdor), who gave me all the advice I needed for my move (and more), is over for shabbos so that should be fun.

Since it was a slow post week I decided to leave you with some food for thought on salary comparisons between US and Israel. It looks like social workers can't use that 'ole parnassa excuse anymore. (www.tayku.com). Teachers salaries will most likely come up in the near future, and American doctor salaries will most likely go down in the USA (especially if Hillary is elected.)


Israel USA
NIS USD USD Variance
Teacher 7202 28447 44700 -36%
Doctor 18695 73845 199000 -63%
Engineer 13082 51673 85803 -40%
Soc. Workers 10237 40436 41000 -1%


Shabbat Shalom! (That's what they say here...)

Sources:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/831203.html
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/001737.html
http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2006/04/on_doctors_sala.html
http://forum.java.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=5165386&tstart=0
http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouthtmls/swzl_compresult_national_HC07000039.html

Since I was praising the Azrieli towers last week I decided to take a picture tonight from my taxi ride home. Clearly not the best picture, but you get the idea. (The third building in the back is a triangle.)

Someone recently reminded me about this article that I wrote about Aliyah for the Frisch student newspaper:

"Zionism is a response which grew
from emancipation. Yehuda Alkalai and
Rabbi Kalischer hoped Israel would be a
home to provide Jews with a national identity.
Once again, in our emancipation we
must look towards the possibility of making
Aliyah. Where American Jewry has
failed in the past, we, the youth, must succeed.

Our parents view Aliyah as an ideal,
one unattainable because of roots too
deeply entrenched in American soil. We,
the seeds, the future of the Jewish people,
must begin to plant ourselves in Israel. We
must not look at Israel as an ideal, but
rather as a goal. Dr. Chaim Waxman recently
said at a Mizrachi convention that a Jew in
America cannot claim to be a Zionist in
consideration of the ease and convenience
of moving to Israel nowadays."


http://members.aol.com/fasd/Struggle6.pdf (page 7)


I think it's probably one of the best things I've ever written for public consumption, although some of my thoughts may have changed since then.

Edit: Note: On the same page an article by M. Herskovitz, now A. Herskovitz (who made Aliyah). It is definitely funnier than my article.

My first week at Tel Aviv I stood out like something that really stands out. Not only couldn't I find myself around and kept asking people stupid questions like "eh, eifo rchov derech Hashalom?" Not a particularly dumb question out of context, but when asked while standing under a sign labeled, in three different languages mind you, DERECH HASHALOM, I might as well had been an asian with a giant camera around my neck and wearing a t-shirt that says "Ani ohev Eretz Yisroel".

But really the thing that had me most confused (which made me look like a tourist the most) was trying to figure out how people knew when to cross the street. On most Tel Aviv streets they have a walking signal of a guy that turns red or green. (The colors mean the same in Israel as they do in the US.) The problem is, there is no yellow, and no blinking lights to hint when the color is going to change. It just changes from green to red. So all week, I would enter the street when it was green, and then it would turn red, and I would run across the street - while others somehow managed to avoid this situation.

It took me some time to realize, that there is also a sound system attached the lighting. When the light turns green, it goes dadadadadadadadadadada, and when its going to turn red it speeds up, and then when it is red it ticks slow. Essentially, Tel Aviv has decided that it would rather invest in an entirely new system that would help blind people, rather than do a small change in the lights to make them blink. I believe Olmert hates deaf people. (Like George Bush hates black people.)

I have several theories about why this is:
1) There is an amazingly awesome museum (I am told) called the Blind Museum (maybe not but thats what it is collequally called) in Tel Aviv area (I think) where people get to experience what it's is like to be blind for an hour and a half (once again- hearsay). This may have swayed the general public to support blind people over deaf people.
2) There may be more blind people in Israel than deaf people.
3) There may be no deaf people in Israel.

And now for an analysis about whether blind people or deaf people are really better... or maybe i'll leave that for another time. I really just wanted to share this observation.

In the end of the day, the whole light system doesn't really matter to me as I walk when there are no cars, and run when there are. I believe the lighting system only recommends times to cross. One of my goals of coming to Israel is to bring some of the excellent American values we have. One of those being the jaywalking system. I believe if I am succesful in just this one area I will have led a fulfilling life.

Just today two girls followed me after I ran across a street and one girl yelled to the other "Yesh knas laasot et zeh" ("there's a fine for doing that"), to which the girl just laughed. I am truly changing the country one person at a time.

I had training today (completely in Hebrew) at the Hilton Hotel in Tel Aviv. After our gourmet lunch (which of course was kosher because most hotels only serve kosher here), I sat on the mirpeset overlooking the Mediterranean sea and I could not believe how absolutely stunning it was. (And yes, to my surprise as well, I did remember the bracha.)

Overall Tel Aviv has its pluses and minuses aesthetically. Some of the buildings, such as the Azrieli towers, are more modern and sleeker looking than the buildings in NYC. (I highly recommend googling for pictures.) On the other hand, there is no uniformity in the structure of the city. Next to a gorgeous 50 floor building you can have a tiny schwarma shack. Unlike NYC, where you generally have at least a 3 story building next to a skyscraper.

I highly recommend visiting Tel Aviv next time you visit Israel if you plan on living here. It is much more like “real Israel” than the Old City.

Side note: I listened to Olmert’s speech today and wow he is a terrific speaker. I actually believe him when he says he will not divide Jerusalem.

Oh yeah, it was also an awesome day because I got to leave work early and then went to a party.

I'm happy to see that the blog reached 100 unique visitors today. If you have any specific questions that you wanted to know about Israel shoot me an email. One goal of the blog is to let you guys know the stupid little things that could make a big difference in ones life when living here. Such as the fact that dry cleaning a shirt costs between 19 shekel and 23 shekel in Tel Aviv. That is $5 to wash a shirt! (Do I hear major business opportunity?)

When I was at the bank opening an account I inquired in Hebrew “how much interest will I get on my mammon?” The woman looked at me very confused, after repeating my question and seeing her same confused looked, I deduced that mammon must not be the correct way to say money in Hebrew. Lucky enough I guessed kesef must be the way. I was pretty surprised that mammon is not in the Hebrew language as it’s such a good Aramaic word and it almost sounds like money in English. I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t her that didn’t know Hebrew so I told someone this story and they thought it was hilarious. Supposedly theres an old joke about an American tourist that gets on a bus and asks in Hebrew “how much mammon to Tel Aviv” to which the bus rider responds: “Shtei zuzim.” (It’s a good thing I found this out before going into a client meeting and offering to get them harbei mammon.)


Another funny thing that happened in the bank was when we were filling out the paperwork (2 hours worth!) the woman was asking me questions and filling in the blanks. Most of the stuff she said I could understand and give answers that made sense such as “what is your address?” When I didn’t understand something I would generally pick between using three canned answers: a) Nod b) Ken c) Betach! (This is a strategy I suggest anyone visiting Israel use.) I could usually figure out based on the tone of her voice which one of these responses would look like I understood her best. This was a solid plan unless the question was more than just a yes or no answer – which I could generally tell, once again, from the tone of her voice. The only problem was when she asked me questions that were not yes/no such as when I thought heard her ask “Do you have any other names that you use?” To which I responded: “Dov” (Because I was opening my account with my other alias.) She looked at me very confused and repeated the question in English, which really was “Do you have any accounts in other banks?” I once again didn’t realize how funny this actually was until later because dov means bear in Hebrew. So essentially she asked a normal question and I answered with a zoo animal.

I got out at 8:30 PM tonight (or as my taxi drivers correct me every night, 20:30)! Baruch Hashem!

This shabbos was an orientation for first year anglo Bar Ilan students. I davened at the Bar Ilan kollel where there was a crazy disproportion of females to males. I would guesstimate 3:1. The gabbai at the kollel is none other than Frisch alumn E. Hinden, D.’s brother. (I ate at them for lunch - which was very nice.) I actually met E’s wife, R., the first day I came to Givat Shmuel. Basically 5 hours after I got off the boat (plane), I went to the grocery store to see what there was to purchase. As I was perusing the isles, figuring out what my staple foods would be for the next year, R. came over and asked if I was an American because I look “very lost.” To which I should have responded “ani lo medaber anglit,” but instead explained that I wasn’t lost but just learning about the food situation. (Sadly most of the food was not particularly appealing so I only bought noodles and those instant Osem food containers. There will be a lot of takeout this year.)

The theme of the shabbos, or at least the topic that was brought up in every divrei torah, was how lech lecha is a very meaningful parsha for olim. The community is really special because it really is true, every one here has gone through their own nisayon of leaving their homeland, their birthplace and their father’s house. These are all people that decided that “talk is cheap” and if they really believe Israel is an important place they are going to live there regardless of other issues. It seems that most of the people I have become friends with have had moments of difficulties due to their decision to make Aliyah but have managed to prevail. (I have a gut feeling that there are some people would not make Aliyah again if they knew what they were going to have to go through.)

Overall it was a very enjoyable shabbos and I met a lot of interesting people and managed to get in some learning, which unfortunately has been lacking since I came here due to work.

A lot of people here are worried about another potential strike at the Israeli universities – this time by the professors and upper management. These strikes are truly ridiculous and are a big drain on the Israeli system. Based on the small amount of knowledge I have on the situation I think the students should have accepted the small tuition increase. Look at the cost of an American institution verse Bar Ilan. It is very expensive to run a university and people can’t expect the government to be able to pick up the tab for everyone. Right now, the average Israeli student has 0 student loans. That is nearly unheard of in the US. The government needs to take a strong stance on these strikes and/or become better negotiators.

Thanks for all those that wrote to me about pushing through on the work issue. Agreed, it is only the first week and I am definitely going to see how things pan out. I just don’t want to work the 90 hour weeks anymore – one year of that was enough for me. Life is too short for that.

Some other odd tidbits that I would make into a longer story but I am way to busy to do so now are:
1) I learned how to play Settlers last week at my cousins and played again this week- it is very awesome. I recommend highly to anyone that hasn’t played yet. (And yes, I am aware I am very late to the game.) (Risk partners, let’s switch to Settlers next time we get together.)
2) Definite work on Sunday is terrible.
3) I have been listening to some oldies but goodies songs I recommend you all take another listen to: Overkill (Men at Work), Angels (Robbie Williams), Heart Shaped Box (Nirvana), Stuck in a Moment (U2), Save Tonight (Eagle Eyed Cherry) and a newer one: Hey There Delilah (Plane White T’s).
4) The Office this season has been phenomenal.

Just to put in some positive things though:

1) Roomates are awesome. Super friendly and helpful. They are introducing me to a lot of very nice people in the community. (They even invited me to a birthday party of someone I didn't know.)
2) It's great reconnecting with people in Israel I haven't seen in a long time.
3) People are nice at work.


Have a good shabbos.

Work this week was absolutely terrible. My week literally consisted of: wake up, daven, go to work, work like a crazy man, go home, sleep, and repeat.

This was my first full week in Israel but it felt exactly like New York. The only difference has been the food is better, the taxi drivers meaner, and the weather hotter. The only thing that reminded me occasionally that I'm in Israel is the exit sign that says yetziah.

On the one hand, adjustment is made so much easier this way, but on the other is this really what I moved here for? This was supposed to be a lifestyle change. If things keep up like this I may be back sooner than expected....

Part of my thought process on coming to Israel was that I was told Israeli’s don’t work hard. It now makes sense why they wanted someone from New York… This is definitely not the lifestyle change I had expected. Essentially my life has moved from working occasional 48 hour days in New York to regular 14/15 hour days in Tel Aviv. And there is VERY little downtime here because there are only two junior and several senior staff.

The funny thing is that although the work is essentially the same, I find it much more enjoyable working in Tel Aviv. I have things in Tel Aviv that I could never have in New York such as a mincha and maariv in the building and having numerous kosher restaurants within walking distance…
I really still have a hard time believing I’m working in Tel Aviv.

I also love being able to email people that I know have blackberries at 3 AM without having to wake up to do it.

Shabbos was excellent. It was really great to see my cousins (and finally see the apartment I have heard so much about.)
It's going to be very helpful to have them to fall back on for shabbos if I have a hard time.

On friday I hung out with C. Aronof who is a madrich at a yeshiva now. I also ran into S. Stern on shabbos in shul who just made aliyah and is working in accounting in Tel Aviv.

It looks like I have more friends in Israel than I had thought.

On shabbos I also walked to the kosel for the first time. (Wanted to go on shabbos so I wouldn't have tear shirt.) Same as I remember- although some renovations here and there. (As well as big archeological digging.)

All in all excellent shabbos - Yerushalayim is awesome.

I arrived to Israel on Wednesday Oct. 10th - sorry if I haven't spoken with any of you but I've just been so busy getting things in order.


I spent Wednesday mainly unpacking, sleeping and getting lost in Givat Shmuel. It's amazing, no matter how small the town I still can't seem to figure it out.

The food situation is a bit crazy since its a shmita year. I learned all about the halachot/politics of otzar beit din, badatz, heter mechira... I still have not made up my mind on what to do. Glatt meat will also be an issue... Overall, the first day was pretty low key.

Thursday I woke up at 6 AM which was amazing - I've never been a morning person but I'm considering becoming one. I went to minyan, where I went unnoticed (or at least no one said hello...), which I took as a compliment that I don't look like that much like a tourist.

I went rollerblading through town to learn the area better which was fun. Not too many hills which is great for convenience but terrible for the fun factor. No 190th/Overlook hill anymore. My electric scooter actually would have served me decently here, but it's usually more convenience to cut through grassy areas than go on the streets.

I opened a bank account which took 2 hours (!) but I did it all in Hebrew so I was very proud after. The woman even presumed that I would want all my statements to be sent to me in Hebrew - to which I insisted I really need them to be in English as I have no idea what you have been saying for the last two hours and I have just been nodding yes to everything. (I wish Morah Dafna could see me now...) I was most probably taken for a ride as I will not be getting interest and will actually be paying the bank to use my money, but supposedly this is how it is done in Israel. This is really very depressing and I think says a lot about the state of the economy.

I then went to J'lem which takes an hour :( where I purchased a cell phone finally. Once again I had to make do entirely in Hebrew. Here I felt I was once again taken advantage of as I spent over 600 shekel ($150 - I converted for less than 4:1 yesterday!) for a phone they used in the stone age. Once again, my friends ensured me that this is the way it is done in Israel. The whole thing is a bit ridiculous - I also needed a bank account before being able to buy a cell phone and I couldn't even get international calling as I need an Israeli credit card for that. Crazy crazy country.

I then went to yeshiva and was glad to see a bunch of people I knew. I love that no matter how many years out there are always people still there. It was fun visiting rabbanim as well. Max was in America though - so I will have to catch up with him at a later date.

For shabbos I will be with my cousins (Jay and Daniel) in J'lem who are here studying for the year. Should be excellent.

Few notes:

(Some) of the food here is incredible. I have always heard Burgers bar was good but I was always skeptical - it's just a hamburger... But when I had it in the tachanat hamercazi in J'lem I was blown away - WOW! I can't explain it. I don't know what they feed those cows but boy are they tasty. It may have had to do with the sauces they put on it. I noticed the 3 people ahead of me on line all got chimichuri (?) on their burgers so I followed though. America must get this chimichuri and manufacture it in mass quantities. (I will send a sample via FedEx to whomever would like to taste if you cover charges.)

I also tried to order an ice coffee today from Aroma and ordered something on the menu in Hebrew that I thought meant Iced Coffee but most definitely was not. It was really excellent though.

People have told me the cost of living in Israel is cheaper but I have yet to see this... For some prices on things I have bought...
28 NIS deoderant
9 NIS 4 bars of soap
600 NIS cell phone
100 NIS + per month for phone plan
20 NIS shampoo
16 NIS Iced Coffee (or whatever it was...)

Rent is cheaper but the rooms are not quite American living standards (even Wash. Heights). It feels like Yeshiva.

Well that is enough from me today - there are obviously hundreds of stories and insights from the last few days that I will hopefully share with y'all in the future, but I don't feel like typing them now.

Have a good shabbos!