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I was listening to the radio on the way to work one day this week and was once again struck by how tiny our country is. The topic being discussed was wasteful spending by Knesset members. Apparently it was “discovered” that Knesset members habitually fly in business class on all flights, even short flights to Europe.
I am not sure who raised the issue to the public, but one report claimed that if they flew coach instead of business for shorter flights, the savings could be up to 400,000 shekels. Mentally doing the math, I realized that this is currently something in the neighborhood of $110,000.
While I realize that every last penny counts, which was something the commentators spoke about, the amounts made me wonder. Was it possible that the difference in cost was so small? I was prepared to hear half a million dollars at least—how could it be such a low amount?
I realized that a comparison to the U.S. government was unfair. Even a comparison to the State of New York would be unfair. To really understand things, we would need to find an area with fewer people and less land.
So I imagined a city—perhaps New York or L.A. We are talking about several million people and a bunch of government workers. Then I thought, “What if New York City had a similar report, that the city would save 100 grand on flights of four hours or less—would that be newsworthy?” I think it probably would.
Then I thought about one of those cities having to maintain a high-tech modern military. It is always a bit staggering to realize that a lot of the differences in culture and approach arise from the fact that the “worlds” really are so vastly different.
Those of you who are regular readers are wondering, “He was listening to the radio in Hebrew?” I know! I was also amazed.
I was flipping through the stations and there was no music to listen to. I stopped at one of the talk stations to hear the traffic report and didn’t bother to switch the station when the chatter came on. I figured that I would listen for as long as I got the gist of what was being discussed.
I almost switched it in the first minute. I understood that they were talking about something that a Knesset member had spoken about, and that they thought he was a hypocrite. Apparently, he himself had done whatever it was they were talking about only a few weeks earlier.
I kept listening to the discussion and the same few words kept coming up, words that I didn’t understand and were clearly central to the story. It was so frustrating. I understood almost everything, but without the one or two key words, I had no clue what was going on.
Unexpectedly, the announcer said two words in English—“Business Class”—and it was like he suddenly illuminated the whole story. I instantly connected all the dots and followed the entire discussion.
After a break, they moved to another story. It had something to do with Iran and a concern about their percentages. In Israel, the word for “percentages” is often used when discussing interest or penalty fees. So I was racking my brains trying to figure out why in the world Iran’s interest rates or financial system was of any concern to us. They brought some professor on the air—and, amazingly, they asked him the very same question!
In the middle of his answer, he used the word “plutonium,” and I immediately understood two things. First, they were talking about Iran’s nuclear-weapons capabilities, which is a major concern. Second, the discussion was too difficult for me to follow, and I switched stations.
For the second time in three weeks, the bulk of this column was written on a U.S.-bound flight. Puah’s annual dinner will be on Tuesday evening, February 16, at the Manhattan Beach Jewish Center in Brooklyn. I invite all my readers to please join us there and learn about some of what I have written about. It is an amazing organization that literally helps in the birth of over 1,500 babies each year worldwide.
As I sat down on the plane (window seat with no one seated in the middle seat), I commented to the woman sitting on the aisle about being lucky that no one was going to be in the middle seat. In the course of a two-minute conversation, I mentioned that I live in Bet Shemesh.
We both turned to settling in for the flight. After a minute or so, out of nowhere, she turned to me and asked, “Are you the guy who has been writing all the articles in the paper?”
I couldn’t believe it! We had spoken for no more than two minutes, I hadn’t even told her my name, yet she somehow knew who I was. She recognized me from pictures in the paper and made the connection when I said that I live in Bet Shemesh.
Of course, I am always tired and ready for sleep when I get to the plane, and my brain was not working right, so I forgot to get her name. I like to include names in these stories not just to add a little bit of a more personal connection, but also to give all the friends and relatives of the person something to kibbitz with them about in shul.
So to the lady in 47H, who works at Manhattan Day School, has two of three children living in Israel, whose husband (Shlomo) is Israeli and works in computers (I think), I am in awe of your ability to correctly identify me.
Kinneret update: The rains continued to fall last week, and we added 8.5 cm to the Kinneret for the week. The current level is –213.28, which is 172 cm above the Black Line, 28 cm below the Lower Red Line, and 428 cm below the Upper Red Line. Although it was cold and rainy in recent weeks, the current forecast calls for very little rain, and a heat wave, with temps passing 90 for two of the days. We are still in the rainy season, though, and we need more. Let it rain, rain, rain!
I am not sure who raised the issue to the public, but one report claimed that if they flew coach instead of business for shorter flights, the savings could be up to 400,000 shekels. Mentally doing the math, I realized that this is currently something in the neighborhood of $110,000.
While I realize that every last penny counts, which was something the commentators spoke about, the amounts made me wonder. Was it possible that the difference in cost was so small? I was prepared to hear half a million dollars at least—how could it be such a low amount?
I realized that a comparison to the U.S. government was unfair. Even a comparison to the State of New York would be unfair. To really understand things, we would need to find an area with fewer people and less land.
So I imagined a city—perhaps New York or L.A. We are talking about several million people and a bunch of government workers. Then I thought, “What if New York City had a similar report, that the city would save 100 grand on flights of four hours or less—would that be newsworthy?” I think it probably would.
Then I thought about one of those cities having to maintain a high-tech modern military. It is always a bit staggering to realize that a lot of the differences in culture and approach arise from the fact that the “worlds” really are so vastly different.
Those of you who are regular readers are wondering, “He was listening to the radio in Hebrew?” I know! I was also amazed.
I was flipping through the stations and there was no music to listen to. I stopped at one of the talk stations to hear the traffic report and didn’t bother to switch the station when the chatter came on. I figured that I would listen for as long as I got the gist of what was being discussed.
I almost switched it in the first minute. I understood that they were talking about something that a Knesset member had spoken about, and that they thought he was a hypocrite. Apparently, he himself had done whatever it was they were talking about only a few weeks earlier.
I kept listening to the discussion and the same few words kept coming up, words that I didn’t understand and were clearly central to the story. It was so frustrating. I understood almost everything, but without the one or two key words, I had no clue what was going on.
Unexpectedly, the announcer said two words in English—“Business Class”—and it was like he suddenly illuminated the whole story. I instantly connected all the dots and followed the entire discussion.
After a break, they moved to another story. It had something to do with Iran and a concern about their percentages. In Israel, the word for “percentages” is often used when discussing interest or penalty fees. So I was racking my brains trying to figure out why in the world Iran’s interest rates or financial system was of any concern to us. They brought some professor on the air—and, amazingly, they asked him the very same question!
In the middle of his answer, he used the word “plutonium,” and I immediately understood two things. First, they were talking about Iran’s nuclear-weapons capabilities, which is a major concern. Second, the discussion was too difficult for me to follow, and I switched stations.
For the second time in three weeks, the bulk of this column was written on a U.S.-bound flight. Puah’s annual dinner will be on Tuesday evening, February 16, at the Manhattan Beach Jewish Center in Brooklyn. I invite all my readers to please join us there and learn about some of what I have written about. It is an amazing organization that literally helps in the birth of over 1,500 babies each year worldwide.
As I sat down on the plane (window seat with no one seated in the middle seat), I commented to the woman sitting on the aisle about being lucky that no one was going to be in the middle seat. In the course of a two-minute conversation, I mentioned that I live in Bet Shemesh.
We both turned to settling in for the flight. After a minute or so, out of nowhere, she turned to me and asked, “Are you the guy who has been writing all the articles in the paper?”
I couldn’t believe it! We had spoken for no more than two minutes, I hadn’t even told her my name, yet she somehow knew who I was. She recognized me from pictures in the paper and made the connection when I said that I live in Bet Shemesh.
Of course, I am always tired and ready for sleep when I get to the plane, and my brain was not working right, so I forgot to get her name. I like to include names in these stories not just to add a little bit of a more personal connection, but also to give all the friends and relatives of the person something to kibbitz with them about in shul.
So to the lady in 47H, who works at Manhattan Day School, has two of three children living in Israel, whose husband (Shlomo) is Israeli and works in computers (I think), I am in awe of your ability to correctly identify me.
Kinneret update: The rains continued to fall last week, and we added 8.5 cm to the Kinneret for the week. The current level is –213.28, which is 172 cm above the Black Line, 28 cm below the Lower Red Line, and 428 cm below the Upper Red Line. Although it was cold and rainy in recent weeks, the current forecast calls for very little rain, and a heat wave, with temps passing 90 for two of the days. We are still in the rainy season, though, and we need more. Let it rain, rain, rain!
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