Posts
As you are I am sure experiencing in the USA, the USA financial crisis has really hit hard in our circles. The average Israeli, with his Shekel based income has not seen changes beyond the normal inflation, but anyone with a dollar based income or dollar linked businesses has really suffered in the time we have been here. Us included.
Although the prices for general goods (food, clothing, etc.) had been relatively stable (things have definitely gone up the last few weeks) since our arrival, with each tumble of the dollar, my monthly earnings fell lower and lower. At this point, I have lost over 25% of my take home pay to currency fluctuations. That is NOT a typo.
Anyone else with a US income or dollar linked income has seen similar losses. Businesses as well.
Our Yeshiva lost well over 6 figures (in dollars) of expected income due to the falling dollar – money that we had not expected to need to raise. Of course, our employees and vendors expect to be paid in Shekel no matter how our income arrives and these losses have been both unforecasted and a cause of distress. Every other Yeshiva, Seminary or any other tourist based business that gets its revenue in dollars has seen similar problems.
It had gotten so bad that we decided to change our income stream and instituted a new policy for the upcoming year that our tuition would be quoted and paid in shekels. While it has definitely created confusion for the families of next year’s students, the elimination of the risks involved in the currency fluctuation will definitely be worth it.
With such a tremendous dip in income, it has become difficult for people in our circumstances to budget our expenses. We literally have no idea how much we will bring home each month and cannot forecast our lives in any meaningful and direct way. It hurts in other ways as well.
While we are very happy in our current rented home, eventually we will want to purchase a home of our own. Many Olim come and settle in as we have, renting a home and getting a sense of the neighborhood before committing to a major investment in a home. Unfortunately, with the fall of the dollar, it takes a lot more money to buy a home here.
Most major purchases (like homes) used to be priced by the dollar, but with the degradation of the value of the dollar, these prices have also converted to shekels. When we decide to buy a home, we will be converting dollars into shekels pay for it. If the dollar stays as low as it has fallen, it will significantly limit our choices. Along with those of many other families.
In fact, I would not be surprised if the dollar’s weakness is the cause of a drop in the amount of olim that come to Israel in the next couple of years. I know that we planned out Aliyah with a calculation on what we would be spending on buying a house and how much we would need to earn in order to pay for our living expenses. While the math for that calculation stays the same, the numbers certainly change and living here becomes much harder.
Speaking about people coming to Israel, my youngest brother Ozer just spent a week long visit with us. He came on his pilot trip, looking to set things up for his family’s Aliyah this coming summer. His visit really brought a major sense of déjà vu. I could not help but reflect back to our pilot trip – choosing a neighborhood and looking at homes, looking for schools, interviewing for jobs and of course, visiting the family that was already here.
We are pretty sure he has found a place to live and he learned a lot about the school system here for his kids. I know my kids enjoyed having him here and they are definitely excited to be going in a few short months to greet the whole family at the airport as they come here to stay.
I know this is repetitive, but it is at these times of year that we miss you the most. Holidays and celebrations are simply not the same without having a chance to share them with Bubbees and Zaidees, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, etc. Even though we have developed new friendships here, our old friends are definitely missed as well.
On behalf of Goldie and myself, I wish you a Purim Sameach. We look forward to celebrating Purim together with you in Israel for many years to come.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Will we ever learn? (Article# 77) 3/13/2008
What a disgusting and horrible week. To read that the leaders of my country still want to be fooled by those who wish to weaken and destroy us and continue on such a reckless path is enough to make anyone sick. How is it possible that a person can see the destructive course of action a murderous animal took last week, that the same person can then watch his friends, family and people openly celebrating and glorifying the murder of innocents and still want to appease such “people” by giving in to their demands?
I wanted to avoid this subject in the worst way. I thought about the many other things that happened before the slaughter at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav on Thursday evening, but it is all I’ve been able to think about.
I got the first call via a text message from our Yeshiva instructing all students to immediately contact their dorm counselors and restricting everyone to the building (standard practice in a high alert situation). I knew that something was up.
My sister then called to check on how far we were from the attack, and filled me in on some details. I immediately tuned to CNN to see i) coverage in English and ii) what story you were being told. I also started to write an email to our students’ parents to let them know that everyone was OK and accounted for when I heard the announcer talk about the attack on the “Yeshiva” seminary in Jerusalem with no further description. Imagining the fear and anxiety parents were experiencing from 6,000 miles away, I immediately sent out an “everyone is safe” message to our parents.
Although in truth I was wrong. Everyone was not indeed safe.
Our Yeshiva went to the joint funeral the next morning as a group. Although I did not attend (I was concerned that I wouldn’t make it to the city – security was tight and there was lots of traffic) personally, it was important to us to get as many people together to stand in support of the families of the victims and with Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav. I cannot say that it was a “learning” experience or any kind of experience. This was not a time to “experience”, it was simply a time to grieve.
It was simply an overwhelming night.
In one of my first articles I wrote about the Israeli connection with Yom HaZikaron and how almost everyone knows someone (friend/acquaintence or relative) who was killed in a war. The longer we live here, the more we too are identifying and connecting with such tragedies.
Our moment this week came in a Friday morning call from our dentist. Chaim, our oldest, had an appointment scheduled for later that day and he was calling to ask us to please move Chaim’s appointment up a couple of hours. He needed to make the change so that he could attend the funeral of his nephew – one of the students killed Thursday night.
Goldie mentioned to me that she would like to randomly pick one of the families and go be menachem avel to them. I get very uncomfortable in a shiva house and in truth the idea is unsettling to me. Especially with strangers who speak a different language. But, we might well do it – because we cannot think of any other way to somehow bring comfort to these families who are going through such heart rendering grief.
I cannot help but contrast in my mind the way we and our enemies feel about such tragedies. Even the CNN announcer seemed to lose some of his composure when he was first informed that they were celebrating in Gaza over the news of this attack. While the worldwide media is usually pretty pro Arab, the disgust in his voice that people should act in such a way in recognition of such barbarism was clear.
This wasn’t just a couple of radicals either. People were passing out candies in the street to children. They were shooting off fireworks and their guns in celebration. It was a major holiday for a significant number of the residents of our land there. The family of the terrorist proudly displayed Palestinian and Hamas flags on their home (until it was razed).
We unfortunately also kill civilians. These civilians are used as human shields by Hamas soldiers as they fire rockets into Sderot and the Negev. When we kill civilians, we openly confess our regret that we did so and our wish that terrorists not put them in the line of fire.
Yet the left will continue to doggedly press their way forward in “exhausting every opportunity” to reach a “peace agreement”. Yesterday they even announced that there was an “unofficial” truce reached with Hamas. How could we tell? Well, our activities in Gaza itself have ceased (we will probably target actual bombers by air attack) and the number of rockets flying into Israel from Gaza have GONE DOWN. That’s it.
What an awesome deal our government has made. They are allowed to continue to bomb us on a daily basis, while we stay out of the area. Is this the big peace plan that the peacenicks have in mind? Let’s admit once and for all that the only “peace” our enemies have in mind for us is seeing us all “resting in peace”.
Next week I will again be able to talk about soldiers and pizza, Adar celebrations Israel style and many of the other wonderful things that happen here this time of year. For this week I can only think of those kids who are forever gone to us. I can only think of them and hope and pray that they are the last loss we have to suffer and that this loss somehow (although we will most likely never understand how) serve as a catalyst for the betterment of our people and our nation. I hope that things calm down and that the future only holds more news about which kids did what and how our Purim and Chol Hamoed went.
I wanted to avoid this subject in the worst way. I thought about the many other things that happened before the slaughter at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav on Thursday evening, but it is all I’ve been able to think about.
I got the first call via a text message from our Yeshiva instructing all students to immediately contact their dorm counselors and restricting everyone to the building (standard practice in a high alert situation). I knew that something was up.
My sister then called to check on how far we were from the attack, and filled me in on some details. I immediately tuned to CNN to see i) coverage in English and ii) what story you were being told. I also started to write an email to our students’ parents to let them know that everyone was OK and accounted for when I heard the announcer talk about the attack on the “Yeshiva” seminary in Jerusalem with no further description. Imagining the fear and anxiety parents were experiencing from 6,000 miles away, I immediately sent out an “everyone is safe” message to our parents.
Although in truth I was wrong. Everyone was not indeed safe.
Our Yeshiva went to the joint funeral the next morning as a group. Although I did not attend (I was concerned that I wouldn’t make it to the city – security was tight and there was lots of traffic) personally, it was important to us to get as many people together to stand in support of the families of the victims and with Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav. I cannot say that it was a “learning” experience or any kind of experience. This was not a time to “experience”, it was simply a time to grieve.
It was simply an overwhelming night.
In one of my first articles I wrote about the Israeli connection with Yom HaZikaron and how almost everyone knows someone (friend/acquaintence or relative) who was killed in a war. The longer we live here, the more we too are identifying and connecting with such tragedies.
Our moment this week came in a Friday morning call from our dentist. Chaim, our oldest, had an appointment scheduled for later that day and he was calling to ask us to please move Chaim’s appointment up a couple of hours. He needed to make the change so that he could attend the funeral of his nephew – one of the students killed Thursday night.
Goldie mentioned to me that she would like to randomly pick one of the families and go be menachem avel to them. I get very uncomfortable in a shiva house and in truth the idea is unsettling to me. Especially with strangers who speak a different language. But, we might well do it – because we cannot think of any other way to somehow bring comfort to these families who are going through such heart rendering grief.
I cannot help but contrast in my mind the way we and our enemies feel about such tragedies. Even the CNN announcer seemed to lose some of his composure when he was first informed that they were celebrating in Gaza over the news of this attack. While the worldwide media is usually pretty pro Arab, the disgust in his voice that people should act in such a way in recognition of such barbarism was clear.
This wasn’t just a couple of radicals either. People were passing out candies in the street to children. They were shooting off fireworks and their guns in celebration. It was a major holiday for a significant number of the residents of our land there. The family of the terrorist proudly displayed Palestinian and Hamas flags on their home (until it was razed).
We unfortunately also kill civilians. These civilians are used as human shields by Hamas soldiers as they fire rockets into Sderot and the Negev. When we kill civilians, we openly confess our regret that we did so and our wish that terrorists not put them in the line of fire.
Yet the left will continue to doggedly press their way forward in “exhausting every opportunity” to reach a “peace agreement”. Yesterday they even announced that there was an “unofficial” truce reached with Hamas. How could we tell? Well, our activities in Gaza itself have ceased (we will probably target actual bombers by air attack) and the number of rockets flying into Israel from Gaza have GONE DOWN. That’s it.
What an awesome deal our government has made. They are allowed to continue to bomb us on a daily basis, while we stay out of the area. Is this the big peace plan that the peacenicks have in mind? Let’s admit once and for all that the only “peace” our enemies have in mind for us is seeing us all “resting in peace”.
Next week I will again be able to talk about soldiers and pizza, Adar celebrations Israel style and many of the other wonderful things that happen here this time of year. For this week I can only think of those kids who are forever gone to us. I can only think of them and hope and pray that they are the last loss we have to suffer and that this loss somehow (although we will most likely never understand how) serve as a catalyst for the betterment of our people and our nation. I hope that things calm down and that the future only holds more news about which kids did what and how our Purim and Chol Hamoed went.
Standing a Post (Article# 76) 3/6/2008
Unless you are a hermit (and if you are reading this paper, it is clear that you are not), you know that the level of violence in Gaza and other spots has increased lately. In discussions with Larry Gordon (editor of the 5TJT) I commented to him how there seems to be a mini cycle of escalations and withdrawals as each side tests the boundaries of the other side.
This is part of our existence here in Israel, the constant concern about security and safety. It exists in such a contrast to the general daily life in which we (and especially our children) enjoy incredible amounts of freedom and independence in our daily activities. The kids do so much on their own here without needing adult supervision, since everyone looks out for the kids.
As the tensions ratcheted up, I had a chance to speak with my sister about my oldest nephew Yonatan, the first Katz (OK – so his name is Uzan) to serve in the Israeli army. He finished his basic training and had just returned back to the base after a week at home to begin advanced training (his training takes the better part of a year, I think). As we talked, she mentioned that she hadn’t spoken to him all week, which was unusual, but shrugged it off as a probable result of a multi day training exercise in which he is incommunicado.
She confided to me that her real concern was for the possibility that he would be called to active duty either in Gaza itself or doing security watch in another area of high concern. I didn’t think they would do that, with a group of soldiers still in training, but she assured me that depending on the needs of the situation the army would not think twice. After all, they have completed basic training and if assets are needed, then they are needed.
We ended the conversation hoping that the needs of the country would not come to that. Of course, I could stop writing at this point and you would already know the rest of the story.
The very next morning Goldie came to talk to me all shaken. While I was out, my sister had called to tell us that she had finally heard from Yonatan. He had been out traning in the field, but had just been told that this week they were being assigned to a one week rotation doing security patrol duty in a settlement in an area that has a high arab concentration (that is all I will say). It seems that this assignment is definitely a part of the advanced training that he was scheduled to get – although he wouldn’t tell her if it was supposed to happen at this stage of their training or they advanced it because of a specific need.
In either case, by now he is out there somewhere. Most probably on a post with 3 or 4 of his “buddies”. Standing a post for 8-10 hours at a time. All of them with a gun in his hands, protective gear on his body and a target on his back.
He does this for himself for sure. It is certainly a rite of passage in this country, our country. Yet, he does it for his parents as well. His parents, his brothers, my family and even yours. He is standing this post putting his safety and his life on the line so that each and every one of us can continue to live here in security and safety. No matter what your politics are, if you are the biggest hawk or dove, you cannot deny the fact that as things stand today it is Yonatan Uzan and the thousands like him who stand posts every day that allows us all to remain in our country – either to live or to visit.
On the first day of basic training, unbeknownst to him, members of his unit were trying to put together a minyan before morning wakeup. They had nine men and needed another. Suddenly, one of them remembered seeing “Uzan” with a pair of tefillin as he settled his gear into his locker for the first time the day before. They ran to get him and even though he didn’t expect to be able to have one in this very specialized combat unit, with most of its members being non religious - he has been the tenth man of the minyan ever since.
Even though I have said this before, I ask you again to think of him as you daven. Think of Yonatan and the thousands of other men and women who volunteer to stand up and be a shield to defend us, the Jewish people in our home. Although he (or they) is not your son, he is someone’s son.
A mother and a father who love him dearly raised him and watched over him as he grew. They nurtured him and instilled in him a desire to do this very noble thing that he is doing. They taught him to care for his country and its people. They were caught a little unprepared for this to happen quite so soon, even though it was something they knew could happen.
And now they have entrusted his well being to He whom we all rely upon for well being and they (along with the parents of all the service men and women) pray that their precious treasure will be returned to them safe and sound.
You don’t have to approve of the government or its policies. You don’t have to like some of the things that people here are doing. Just daven for us, your family here who are in need of your prayers and of divine protection and guidance. Daven that our youth should be protected from harm and that they successfully protect us in turn.
Unfortunately, one of the sources and continuing signs of our exile is the fact that we Jews cannot seem to get along with one another and we faced those issues this week as well. Although she has not shared all the details with us, Goldie’s oldest friend Chaia Broderick (who made Aliyah just a month after us) was involved with an incident on the bus to Tzfat.
She had gotten on the bus in Jerusalem with a girlfriend to go to Tzfat for Shabbat, and they sat in the front half of the bus. THIS WAS NOT A “DESIGNATED” SEPARATE SEATING BUS. The bus continued on and some men got on the bus and demanded that the two of them move to the “women’s section” at the rear of the bus. They refused.
As Chaia relates it, the men continued to yell at them and the women, afraid that they would be attacked (one woman was slapped around on a bus in a similar confrontation several months back) called to the bus driver for help. He ignored them. Chaia insisted that she needed to be in the front half of the bus so she would not get motion sickness and would not move. Eventually, when they saw she would not be moved, the men retreated.
This intolerance of other people and their way of life (of which I am guilty as well as evidenced by my repeated criticism of the chareidi element in our midst) and inability to simply work things out between ourselves is awful. I just wish I knew how to solve it.
This is part of our existence here in Israel, the constant concern about security and safety. It exists in such a contrast to the general daily life in which we (and especially our children) enjoy incredible amounts of freedom and independence in our daily activities. The kids do so much on their own here without needing adult supervision, since everyone looks out for the kids.
As the tensions ratcheted up, I had a chance to speak with my sister about my oldest nephew Yonatan, the first Katz (OK – so his name is Uzan) to serve in the Israeli army. He finished his basic training and had just returned back to the base after a week at home to begin advanced training (his training takes the better part of a year, I think). As we talked, she mentioned that she hadn’t spoken to him all week, which was unusual, but shrugged it off as a probable result of a multi day training exercise in which he is incommunicado.
She confided to me that her real concern was for the possibility that he would be called to active duty either in Gaza itself or doing security watch in another area of high concern. I didn’t think they would do that, with a group of soldiers still in training, but she assured me that depending on the needs of the situation the army would not think twice. After all, they have completed basic training and if assets are needed, then they are needed.
We ended the conversation hoping that the needs of the country would not come to that. Of course, I could stop writing at this point and you would already know the rest of the story.
The very next morning Goldie came to talk to me all shaken. While I was out, my sister had called to tell us that she had finally heard from Yonatan. He had been out traning in the field, but had just been told that this week they were being assigned to a one week rotation doing security patrol duty in a settlement in an area that has a high arab concentration (that is all I will say). It seems that this assignment is definitely a part of the advanced training that he was scheduled to get – although he wouldn’t tell her if it was supposed to happen at this stage of their training or they advanced it because of a specific need.
In either case, by now he is out there somewhere. Most probably on a post with 3 or 4 of his “buddies”. Standing a post for 8-10 hours at a time. All of them with a gun in his hands, protective gear on his body and a target on his back.
He does this for himself for sure. It is certainly a rite of passage in this country, our country. Yet, he does it for his parents as well. His parents, his brothers, my family and even yours. He is standing this post putting his safety and his life on the line so that each and every one of us can continue to live here in security and safety. No matter what your politics are, if you are the biggest hawk or dove, you cannot deny the fact that as things stand today it is Yonatan Uzan and the thousands like him who stand posts every day that allows us all to remain in our country – either to live or to visit.
On the first day of basic training, unbeknownst to him, members of his unit were trying to put together a minyan before morning wakeup. They had nine men and needed another. Suddenly, one of them remembered seeing “Uzan” with a pair of tefillin as he settled his gear into his locker for the first time the day before. They ran to get him and even though he didn’t expect to be able to have one in this very specialized combat unit, with most of its members being non religious - he has been the tenth man of the minyan ever since.
Even though I have said this before, I ask you again to think of him as you daven. Think of Yonatan and the thousands of other men and women who volunteer to stand up and be a shield to defend us, the Jewish people in our home. Although he (or they) is not your son, he is someone’s son.
A mother and a father who love him dearly raised him and watched over him as he grew. They nurtured him and instilled in him a desire to do this very noble thing that he is doing. They taught him to care for his country and its people. They were caught a little unprepared for this to happen quite so soon, even though it was something they knew could happen.
And now they have entrusted his well being to He whom we all rely upon for well being and they (along with the parents of all the service men and women) pray that their precious treasure will be returned to them safe and sound.
You don’t have to approve of the government or its policies. You don’t have to like some of the things that people here are doing. Just daven for us, your family here who are in need of your prayers and of divine protection and guidance. Daven that our youth should be protected from harm and that they successfully protect us in turn.
Unfortunately, one of the sources and continuing signs of our exile is the fact that we Jews cannot seem to get along with one another and we faced those issues this week as well. Although she has not shared all the details with us, Goldie’s oldest friend Chaia Broderick (who made Aliyah just a month after us) was involved with an incident on the bus to Tzfat.
She had gotten on the bus in Jerusalem with a girlfriend to go to Tzfat for Shabbat, and they sat in the front half of the bus. THIS WAS NOT A “DESIGNATED” SEPARATE SEATING BUS. The bus continued on and some men got on the bus and demanded that the two of them move to the “women’s section” at the rear of the bus. They refused.
As Chaia relates it, the men continued to yell at them and the women, afraid that they would be attacked (one woman was slapped around on a bus in a similar confrontation several months back) called to the bus driver for help. He ignored them. Chaia insisted that she needed to be in the front half of the bus so she would not get motion sickness and would not move. Eventually, when they saw she would not be moved, the men retreated.
This intolerance of other people and their way of life (of which I am guilty as well as evidenced by my repeated criticism of the chareidi element in our midst) and inability to simply work things out between ourselves is awful. I just wish I knew how to solve it.
A nice place to visit (Article# 75) 2/29/2008
It seems as if the people at Hasbro heard from a lot of people in just a few days. The day after I (among others) wrote them an email objecting to their decision, they made another change to the Monopoly website, removing the country designation from every city listed.
They issued a release claiming that the original decision to remove Israel as the country of Jerusalem was made and enacted by a mid level staffer, without consulting upper management. They added that they had never intended to list the country of each city on the actual game in any case, so this change was basically immaterial.
A few days later they took all the cities names off the voting board, announcing that they would keep the results of the voting secret until the conclusion of the vote. Since Jerusalem was in position number 4 when the voting was made secret (having risen 3 or 4 places in a couple of weeks time), I cannot help but wonder if this change was made with a concern for us finishing in a very high voting position. We’ll see.
Although I get feedback on a regular basis, I have never before responded in the paper to a reader. This week I got an email from a reader who lives in Jerusalem. His comment was (I am paraphrasing) that if I was truly concerned about the fate of Jerusalem, I should live there. His inference was that as a resident of Jerusalem his concern and opinion was somehow more valid than mine.
Well, since I deleted your email I don’t know your name, but whoever you are – I object! When the bombs fell in Haifa and Tzfat, it wasn’t only the residents of those cities who were legitimately concerned. As the bombs fall in Sderot, we all must stand united side by side to protect our brethren, regardless of where we live.
Unfortunately, not enough of us care this way. If our government would care about Sderot the way they care about Tel Aviv or Herzliya, they would not let bombs fall there every day without furious response from our side. I stand with Sderot as much as I stand with Jerusalem and as much as I stand with Bet Shemesh and I don’t have to live in those cities to care about them. As should you.
We got some good news from Chaim this week. We had been preparing his college application for next year and planning for him to be in YU next year. Even though he would normally have been in twelfth grade next year, having achieved his High School equivalency diploma and completed a year of study in Israel, we had agreed to allow him to go to YU the following year.
He has been having an exceptional year of learning in Yeshiva. Every report has been positive and glowing and we have been very happy that his adjustment has been going well so far. So it was terrific for us to have him tell us that he had decided that it would better for him to come back for a second year in Yeshiva, before heading off to college.
He’ll still have a head start on his peers, having earned a year and a half of credits for the time he is in Yeshiva here, but will also have the opportunity to mature some more before heading off to college on his own.
It snowed again in Jerusalem last week. We have actually had a much better rainfall the past few months. Even though the water levels are still very low and it will take a couple of good rainy seasons to correct them, we have finally had a couple of months to smile about and we will probably not hit drought conditions this year. Even though this is the year of Shmitta, we still need the rain.
They issued a release claiming that the original decision to remove Israel as the country of Jerusalem was made and enacted by a mid level staffer, without consulting upper management. They added that they had never intended to list the country of each city on the actual game in any case, so this change was basically immaterial.
A few days later they took all the cities names off the voting board, announcing that they would keep the results of the voting secret until the conclusion of the vote. Since Jerusalem was in position number 4 when the voting was made secret (having risen 3 or 4 places in a couple of weeks time), I cannot help but wonder if this change was made with a concern for us finishing in a very high voting position. We’ll see.
Although I get feedback on a regular basis, I have never before responded in the paper to a reader. This week I got an email from a reader who lives in Jerusalem. His comment was (I am paraphrasing) that if I was truly concerned about the fate of Jerusalem, I should live there. His inference was that as a resident of Jerusalem his concern and opinion was somehow more valid than mine.
Well, since I deleted your email I don’t know your name, but whoever you are – I object! When the bombs fell in Haifa and Tzfat, it wasn’t only the residents of those cities who were legitimately concerned. As the bombs fall in Sderot, we all must stand united side by side to protect our brethren, regardless of where we live.
Unfortunately, not enough of us care this way. If our government would care about Sderot the way they care about Tel Aviv or Herzliya, they would not let bombs fall there every day without furious response from our side. I stand with Sderot as much as I stand with Jerusalem and as much as I stand with Bet Shemesh and I don’t have to live in those cities to care about them. As should you.
We got some good news from Chaim this week. We had been preparing his college application for next year and planning for him to be in YU next year. Even though he would normally have been in twelfth grade next year, having achieved his High School equivalency diploma and completed a year of study in Israel, we had agreed to allow him to go to YU the following year.
He has been having an exceptional year of learning in Yeshiva. Every report has been positive and glowing and we have been very happy that his adjustment has been going well so far. So it was terrific for us to have him tell us that he had decided that it would better for him to come back for a second year in Yeshiva, before heading off to college.
He’ll still have a head start on his peers, having earned a year and a half of credits for the time he is in Yeshiva here, but will also have the opportunity to mature some more before heading off to college on his own.
It snowed again in Jerusalem last week. We have actually had a much better rainfall the past few months. Even though the water levels are still very low and it will take a couple of good rainy seasons to correct them, we have finally had a couple of months to smile about and we will probably not hit drought conditions this year. Even though this is the year of Shmitta, we still need the rain.
Jerusalem, ISRAEL (Article# 74) 2/22/2008
I was gonna take a week off this week. I arrived home safely from my trip to America and other than my luggage missing my flight and spending an extra 6 hours in London, there wasn’t much to talk about and I was looking forward to some downtime.
One thing I did do last week was vote on the “monopoly” website for Jerusalem, Israel to be a space on the new “world” version of the board game Monopoly. Apparently, as a marketing ploy the Hasbro company is having internet voting to be named a space in the game. The top twenty cities get in, with another twenty cities having a run-off for the final two spots.
Every other day or so, I have been seeing either emails or newspaper articles about “getting out the vote” and making sure that Jerusalem gets not only a spot on the board, but a valuable ranking as well. When I first voted, we were ranked either 7th or 8th and I had been seeing a lot of comments in emails that people should get the word out and move us up in rank. To vote go to http://www.monopolyworldvote.com/en_US/world.
This morning, I was checking my email when I saw a flood of people commenting on a new change to the voting website. Apparently, the voting push has been somewhat successful, as Israel had moved up to 4th place in the voting (we have sunk back to 5th position since then). However, that wasn’t the most dramatic move for Jerusalem.
Apparently, somebody complained to Hasbro and they have changed the way they describe Jerusalem in the voting. Hasbro has apparently decided that Jerusalem, Israel’s capitol city, is no longer part of Israel and has deleted any reference to Israel from the voting. Istanbul is still in Turkey, Riga is still in Latvia, yet Jerusalem has been hyperspaced into nothingness.
I cannot imagine that Hasbro has thought this through. Even though I will agree that most of the world hates us (Jews or Israel – take your pick), the fact that Hasbro would so brazenly remove the “Israel” tag from its site is astonishing. They will almost certainly hide behind the UN not recognizing Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel or some other nonsense.
So what can we do?
The people of Beit Shemesh (at least) are in frenzy over this. At least one lawyer has already contacted a USA law firm to file suit (and posted the details in an email) and there have been numerous emails encouraging people to contact Hasbro directly to protest this decision. Whether by email or phone, I agree that each person who sends Hasbro a personal message of disgust for their stance on Israel.
I encourage you to either call them by phone at 888-836-7025 (I got this number from their customer service website) or write them an email in the form on their website at http://hasbro.custhelp.com (also from their website) - or even both.
I myself wrote,
“Dear Hasbro,
I am disgusted and outraged at your blatant removal of Israel as the country of Jerusalem. Hasbro is a US corporation and the US government has recognized Jerusalem not only as being in Israel but as its capitol. As a dual Israeli/US citizen, I am embarassed that any US company would bow to Anti Semitic pressure and take such action.
Since you are holding a vote and encourage the democratic process, I am encouraging everyone on my email list or that I may come in contact with to vote. Not on your website, but with their wallets. I cannot support a company that knowingly discriminates against my people and my country.
Sincerely,
Shmuel Katz”
One thing I did do last week was vote on the “monopoly” website for Jerusalem, Israel to be a space on the new “world” version of the board game Monopoly. Apparently, as a marketing ploy the Hasbro company is having internet voting to be named a space in the game. The top twenty cities get in, with another twenty cities having a run-off for the final two spots.
Every other day or so, I have been seeing either emails or newspaper articles about “getting out the vote” and making sure that Jerusalem gets not only a spot on the board, but a valuable ranking as well. When I first voted, we were ranked either 7th or 8th and I had been seeing a lot of comments in emails that people should get the word out and move us up in rank. To vote go to http://www.monopolyworldvote.com/en_US/world.
This morning, I was checking my email when I saw a flood of people commenting on a new change to the voting website. Apparently, the voting push has been somewhat successful, as Israel had moved up to 4th place in the voting (we have sunk back to 5th position since then). However, that wasn’t the most dramatic move for Jerusalem.
Apparently, somebody complained to Hasbro and they have changed the way they describe Jerusalem in the voting. Hasbro has apparently decided that Jerusalem, Israel’s capitol city, is no longer part of Israel and has deleted any reference to Israel from the voting. Istanbul is still in Turkey, Riga is still in Latvia, yet Jerusalem has been hyperspaced into nothingness.
I cannot imagine that Hasbro has thought this through. Even though I will agree that most of the world hates us (Jews or Israel – take your pick), the fact that Hasbro would so brazenly remove the “Israel” tag from its site is astonishing. They will almost certainly hide behind the UN not recognizing Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel or some other nonsense.
So what can we do?
The people of Beit Shemesh (at least) are in frenzy over this. At least one lawyer has already contacted a USA law firm to file suit (and posted the details in an email) and there have been numerous emails encouraging people to contact Hasbro directly to protest this decision. Whether by email or phone, I agree that each person who sends Hasbro a personal message of disgust for their stance on Israel.
I encourage you to either call them by phone at 888-836-7025 (I got this number from their customer service website) or write them an email in the form on their website at http://hasbro.custhelp.com (also from their website) - or even both.
I myself wrote,
“Dear Hasbro,
I am disgusted and outraged at your blatant removal of Israel as the country of Jerusalem. Hasbro is a US corporation and the US government has recognized Jerusalem not only as being in Israel but as its capitol. As a dual Israeli/US citizen, I am embarassed that any US company would bow to Anti Semitic pressure and take such action.
Since you are holding a vote and encourage the democratic process, I am encouraging everyone on my email list or that I may come in contact with to vote. Not on your website, but with their wallets. I cannot support a company that knowingly discriminates against my people and my country.
Sincerely,
Shmuel Katz”
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Brrrrrrrrrrr (Article# 73) 2/14/08
It seems like the bad weather comes to meet me every time I come to the USA. Last time it was an ice storm that cancelled my connecting flight and then nine inches of snow in Chicago. This time we were lucky to have an arctic cold front move in. The same day I was shivering in gloves and a ski cap in NY, my kids went to school without jackets.
To be fair, we had bad weather in Israel too. Yerushalayim even had two straight days of snow (which is very unusual). The temperature was so cold that even in Beit Shemesh we had exposed water pipes (from the solar water heaters) bursting and leaking. So we did have some winter weather.
Israel is the most panic struck place when the winter weather rolls in. None of the cars have anything remotely near “all weather” tires, so there are accidents and skids all over the place. Schools close early so that the kids can be home. Even the Beit Shemesh schools considered closing; there was no snow by us, but the teachers from the Gush area had to dig themselves out to get to school.
Thankfully, we only had Aliza home for the school days. Since I work in Yerushalayim and the roads were all closed, I also stayed home for a couple of days. I have friends who work out of the house – I have no idea how they do it. I had so many distractions it was almost impossible to get anything done.
The night I left for the USA, Mordechai had his Kitta Aleph (First Grade) Siddur presentation. The kids from both first grade classes put on a show, and their Rebbi was terrific as he took the roles of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov as the originators of our davening three times each day. Then the Rabbi of the entire community personally presented each kid with his own siddur. Mordechai was so proud.
Having seen many friends in NY I think some of you may be getting the wrong impression about what is going on in our neighborhood. There are certainly tensions between us and our ultra orthodox neighbors. But, it isn’t like they are lurking in the bushes waiting to throw a rock at us as we pass by. Most weeks nothing happens. However, we are trying to work for a time when I can leave off the words “most weeks”.
Last week saw another success at camaraderie. We had a mini crisis (details not important), and instead of throwing stones, writing threatening letters, rioting or some other such actions – they called us. Our Rav got involved and worked out a reasonable solution to the issue and all sides walked away happy – which is the goal, isn’t it?
We are working towards a joint community Melava Malka, a joint women’s tehillim group and other events designed to encourage achdut (unity) in Beit Shemesh. So we have some good progress on this front.
Although Goldie did call me from Israel to tell me that the spray painter was at it again. This time he painted his “modest dress only” message in 3 places. Goldie wasn’t sure who to talk to, but the neighbors did and by the time I called the guys responsible for clean up I found out that the job had already been done. So once again the mess was cleaned up within hours and we hope that this will discourage the guy from coming back, since nobody sees his work anyway.
Our kids got their report cards over the last couple of weeks. We were pretty pleased with the results. Even though they did not know much Hebrew (in most cases – NO Hebrew), they are doing very well academically. Despite the fact that their parents have a hard time helping with some of the homework.
Vocabulary is a major concern. We are an English speaking family. Goldie and I try to speak Hebrew at times, just to keep our skills sharp (and also to get a little nachas in hearing the kids respond in Hebrew). Yet, we have very basic vocabularies and don’t know (or speak) many of the words that Israeli kids hear in their homes as a matter of course. So their vocabularies are not at the same level as their peers.
Looking back, I really don’t know what we expected to see from them as they adjusted. We knew that people have had so many problems coming with older kids on Aliyah. Yet we continued to insist to everyone that there had to be successes as well as failures and were confidently optimistic that our kids would be successful.
Give the kids all the credit though, since it is their hard work that made things happen. Chaya, who is such a different person since we moved, clearly knows more Hebrew than she admits to. Even without bonus points that are awarded to new Olim for the first 10 years they live here – she is well above the passing level in all her courses. Assuming she continues to work hard (ok – and gets the extra help we need to get her because of the language barrier).
We sometimes forget how difficult the past year was for her and the other kids. Ten days ago, I got a call from one of Chaya’s friends at school that Chaya was in the midst of a terrible anxiety attack. A classmate’s father had passed away that morning from lung cancer. When another girl made a comment about the mortality rate of lung cancer Chaya got very distraught.
Although we have been very open with the kids and have encouraged them to ask questions and understand everything that we have faced, you can never tell when something will trigger a memory or concern. Thankfully, we were tipped off by that concerned friend. I was able to go meet Chaya at school to talk with her and comfort her.
I had written a few weeks ago that we knew a family making Aliyah this summer, but that the news of their Aliyah was not yet public. I can now share with you the terrific news that my youngest brother and his family will be joining us in Israel as Israelis. Although things are still up in the air, it even looks like they will start off living in Beit Shemesh.
They had originally been considering other communities, but we know so much about Beit Shemesh and its preschools and services, etc., that we were able to hook them up with most of what they needed in schools and it makes for a much softer landing this way. Also, who wouldn’t want to move somewhere that there will be built in babysitting for your kids.
Our kids were brimming with excitement when they heard the news. These are an uncle and aunt that they have known all their lives, but cousins that they really do not know much, never having lived in the same community. The older kids are excited to have some cousins to help take care of (my brother has one boy and twin girls) and the younger ones have some cousins to play with.
As the last Katz to move to Israel, Ozer’s Aliyah also completes an astounding feat. Had anyone told me ten years ago that my entire family would be living in Israel I would have laughed aloud. Now, it is about to be reality. I think it is time for Religious Zionists of Chicago to honor my parents as Zionists of the Year or something like that!
Strangely, his wife Jenny is also the final one of her sisters to make Aliyah as well. So they really complete the family on both sides. I guess her parents (the Benn’s) should have a similar honor in the Silver Spring community as well.
Of course, since their oldest child is entering Pre1a (or Kindergarten, whatever you call the year before Grade 1), they are making Aliyah in a totally different stage of life than we are in. He will probably even have to do some form of military service in the reserves, most likely as a driver or some other support staff. So it will be interesting to see what they go through and contrast it to our experience in making Aliyah.
Hopefully when he comes to us in March on his pilot trip it won’t be nearly as cold as my visit to him this week (12 degrees in Chicago – not celcius).
To be fair, we had bad weather in Israel too. Yerushalayim even had two straight days of snow (which is very unusual). The temperature was so cold that even in Beit Shemesh we had exposed water pipes (from the solar water heaters) bursting and leaking. So we did have some winter weather.
Israel is the most panic struck place when the winter weather rolls in. None of the cars have anything remotely near “all weather” tires, so there are accidents and skids all over the place. Schools close early so that the kids can be home. Even the Beit Shemesh schools considered closing; there was no snow by us, but the teachers from the Gush area had to dig themselves out to get to school.
Thankfully, we only had Aliza home for the school days. Since I work in Yerushalayim and the roads were all closed, I also stayed home for a couple of days. I have friends who work out of the house – I have no idea how they do it. I had so many distractions it was almost impossible to get anything done.
The night I left for the USA, Mordechai had his Kitta Aleph (First Grade) Siddur presentation. The kids from both first grade classes put on a show, and their Rebbi was terrific as he took the roles of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov as the originators of our davening three times each day. Then the Rabbi of the entire community personally presented each kid with his own siddur. Mordechai was so proud.
Having seen many friends in NY I think some of you may be getting the wrong impression about what is going on in our neighborhood. There are certainly tensions between us and our ultra orthodox neighbors. But, it isn’t like they are lurking in the bushes waiting to throw a rock at us as we pass by. Most weeks nothing happens. However, we are trying to work for a time when I can leave off the words “most weeks”.
Last week saw another success at camaraderie. We had a mini crisis (details not important), and instead of throwing stones, writing threatening letters, rioting or some other such actions – they called us. Our Rav got involved and worked out a reasonable solution to the issue and all sides walked away happy – which is the goal, isn’t it?
We are working towards a joint community Melava Malka, a joint women’s tehillim group and other events designed to encourage achdut (unity) in Beit Shemesh. So we have some good progress on this front.
Although Goldie did call me from Israel to tell me that the spray painter was at it again. This time he painted his “modest dress only” message in 3 places. Goldie wasn’t sure who to talk to, but the neighbors did and by the time I called the guys responsible for clean up I found out that the job had already been done. So once again the mess was cleaned up within hours and we hope that this will discourage the guy from coming back, since nobody sees his work anyway.
Our kids got their report cards over the last couple of weeks. We were pretty pleased with the results. Even though they did not know much Hebrew (in most cases – NO Hebrew), they are doing very well academically. Despite the fact that their parents have a hard time helping with some of the homework.
Vocabulary is a major concern. We are an English speaking family. Goldie and I try to speak Hebrew at times, just to keep our skills sharp (and also to get a little nachas in hearing the kids respond in Hebrew). Yet, we have very basic vocabularies and don’t know (or speak) many of the words that Israeli kids hear in their homes as a matter of course. So their vocabularies are not at the same level as their peers.
Looking back, I really don’t know what we expected to see from them as they adjusted. We knew that people have had so many problems coming with older kids on Aliyah. Yet we continued to insist to everyone that there had to be successes as well as failures and were confidently optimistic that our kids would be successful.
Give the kids all the credit though, since it is their hard work that made things happen. Chaya, who is such a different person since we moved, clearly knows more Hebrew than she admits to. Even without bonus points that are awarded to new Olim for the first 10 years they live here – she is well above the passing level in all her courses. Assuming she continues to work hard (ok – and gets the extra help we need to get her because of the language barrier).
We sometimes forget how difficult the past year was for her and the other kids. Ten days ago, I got a call from one of Chaya’s friends at school that Chaya was in the midst of a terrible anxiety attack. A classmate’s father had passed away that morning from lung cancer. When another girl made a comment about the mortality rate of lung cancer Chaya got very distraught.
Although we have been very open with the kids and have encouraged them to ask questions and understand everything that we have faced, you can never tell when something will trigger a memory or concern. Thankfully, we were tipped off by that concerned friend. I was able to go meet Chaya at school to talk with her and comfort her.
I had written a few weeks ago that we knew a family making Aliyah this summer, but that the news of their Aliyah was not yet public. I can now share with you the terrific news that my youngest brother and his family will be joining us in Israel as Israelis. Although things are still up in the air, it even looks like they will start off living in Beit Shemesh.
They had originally been considering other communities, but we know so much about Beit Shemesh and its preschools and services, etc., that we were able to hook them up with most of what they needed in schools and it makes for a much softer landing this way. Also, who wouldn’t want to move somewhere that there will be built in babysitting for your kids.
Our kids were brimming with excitement when they heard the news. These are an uncle and aunt that they have known all their lives, but cousins that they really do not know much, never having lived in the same community. The older kids are excited to have some cousins to help take care of (my brother has one boy and twin girls) and the younger ones have some cousins to play with.
As the last Katz to move to Israel, Ozer’s Aliyah also completes an astounding feat. Had anyone told me ten years ago that my entire family would be living in Israel I would have laughed aloud. Now, it is about to be reality. I think it is time for Religious Zionists of Chicago to honor my parents as Zionists of the Year or something like that!
Strangely, his wife Jenny is also the final one of her sisters to make Aliyah as well. So they really complete the family on both sides. I guess her parents (the Benn’s) should have a similar honor in the Silver Spring community as well.
Of course, since their oldest child is entering Pre1a (or Kindergarten, whatever you call the year before Grade 1), they are making Aliyah in a totally different stage of life than we are in. He will probably even have to do some form of military service in the reserves, most likely as a driver or some other support staff. So it will be interesting to see what they go through and contrast it to our experience in making Aliyah.
Hopefully when he comes to us in March on his pilot trip it won’t be nearly as cold as my visit to him this week (12 degrees in Chicago – not celcius).
Very Fresh Paint (Article# 72) 2/7/08
On Monday, I got a frantic call from Goldie. As Mordechai was getting out of the car, he accidentally slammed the door on his finger. He was howling in pain and she was going to head to the doctor. To make a long story short (which is unusual for me), instead of a broken bone he had a sprain and bruise and had to wear a splint until Shabbat.
We hosted the neighborhood meeting in our house on Wednesday night. We weren’t sure how many people to expect, since we had only sent out the first email invitations out on Sunday. 120+ people showed.
Apparently, the threat of violence against our neighbors simply because they have a television struck a chord. There was a lot of talk about needing to do something to combat the violence that has sprung up. A lot of rhetoric too. The pacifist kept insisting that we should somehow make friends with the rock throwers and letter writers. But the important thing to us was that people cared enough to show up for a meeting with just 3 days notice.
We were able to talk through many issues that people didn’t even know existed and put together a bigger picture of how the Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet (RBSB) militant group (as opposed to the rest of RBSB) is positioning themselves to further develop their neighborhood and influence.
We broke into subcommittees and asked people to get the word out that manpower was needed for further meetings (like the one to be held with the Mayor and Chief of Police the following Monday) and other activities. It was an impressive showing, especially since almost 50% of those there immediately volunteered for subcommittees.
A couple of nights later Chaim came down to the kitchen laughing. “You won’t believe this,” he said. “I was playing a video game with Mordechai (his 6 year old brother) watching me. I made a move in the game that he did not like and he started yelling at me IN HEBREW!” How cool is that? Of course, Chaim didn’t understand a word.
On Thursday the Yeshiva went on a tiyul (trip) to the Gush and Chevron. It was an incredible day for everyone. We saw a physical representation of the various laws of Shemitta, visited a winery, stopped at Kibbutz Kfar Etzion and then toured the building in Chevron (among other sites there) that is at the heart of the current controversy there.
At one point, in Kfar Etzion, we were pointed out the building that houses the High School of Rav Shteinzaltz. Little did we know that less than twelve hours later, that very school was to be the target of a terrorist attack. It was quite shocking to hear the news and realize that we had walked by the very same spot – albeit with armed escort.
On Friday morning I got an email from one of the guys who was at the meeting in my house earlier in the week that the chareidim from across the street had spray painted the sidewalk outside our block. Our street is a dead end, but only because it sits about two to three feet above the street it would normally intersect near my house and is about twenty feet below the level of the street perpendicular.
In order to make it easier for pedestrians, there are stairs from our street to the adjacent streets and it was the sidewalk just outside those stairs that were spray painted with a message “Modest dress required when passing this way”.
Not that I am against modest dress, but this graffiti set me off.
I called a few fellows from the block and together we scrubbed the paint off the bricks by one set of stairs, and then we went out and bought some spray paint matching the color of the sidewalk by the other stairs and covered that message over as well.
While we were working, several of the Chareidim came by and one of our guys stopped to talk to
each one. Some of them knew what was going on and others didn’t. In the end, he spoke with one fellow who said that he wanted to set up a meeting with one of their Rabbis to try and diffuse the tension. So we’ll see, some good might come of it.
Meanwhile, more and more neighbors keep moving in, so it is exciting here on Rechov Gad. Of course, it isn’t that much of a treat when their moving boxes and packing paper are strewn all over the block – but what can you do?
PART TWO
I missed my deadline last week, so I can update you on a lot more that happened since then.
We met with the guys from across the street. Well, not me personally – but one of my neighbors and our Rav. I cannot argue with the results. Not only was the threatening letter withdrawn, but a personal apology was made – twice! We have a dialogue between us that no one thought possible.
There will still be flare-ups, and this meeting only solved (at least for now) one of the issues. There are many others yet to be covered. But dialogue is dialogue, and you cannot belittle how much better things feel in the neighborhood right now. And they also claim that spray painting is not their tactics – so we still have the spray painter to deal with.
We also had a town hall meeting with the Mayor and Police Chief. The crowd was over four hundred angry people – mostly anglos (American, English, Australian and South African with a Canadian here and there), and they were there to protest the violence that the police were letting happen as well as the mayor giving certain plots of land for some of the biggest of the troublemakers to make a school just outside our neighborhood.
It was clear that the mayor never expected so many people, nor the level of anger they had over the continuing situation. I even had one native Israeli tell me that it was the largest “political” meeting EVER in Bet Shemesh. And they got the point – even though they weren’t as forthcoming at the meeting that they could have been.
Yet, they agreed to meet with us on a regular basis (the Police Chief has already held his first meeting) and based on the newspapers that have come out in the last week, it seems as if all sides are finally looking to talk to each other and work together where they can find common ground. Which is a good thing.
The speed with which things came to a head and action started being taken took me by surprise. Especially when the “veterans” said that nothing could be done at all. Yes, we still have issues to face that will become heated, but then again – I would rather be fighting this argument than one concerning who runs the school board.
We hosted the neighborhood meeting in our house on Wednesday night. We weren’t sure how many people to expect, since we had only sent out the first email invitations out on Sunday. 120+ people showed.
Apparently, the threat of violence against our neighbors simply because they have a television struck a chord. There was a lot of talk about needing to do something to combat the violence that has sprung up. A lot of rhetoric too. The pacifist kept insisting that we should somehow make friends with the rock throwers and letter writers. But the important thing to us was that people cared enough to show up for a meeting with just 3 days notice.
We were able to talk through many issues that people didn’t even know existed and put together a bigger picture of how the Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet (RBSB) militant group (as opposed to the rest of RBSB) is positioning themselves to further develop their neighborhood and influence.
We broke into subcommittees and asked people to get the word out that manpower was needed for further meetings (like the one to be held with the Mayor and Chief of Police the following Monday) and other activities. It was an impressive showing, especially since almost 50% of those there immediately volunteered for subcommittees.
A couple of nights later Chaim came down to the kitchen laughing. “You won’t believe this,” he said. “I was playing a video game with Mordechai (his 6 year old brother) watching me. I made a move in the game that he did not like and he started yelling at me IN HEBREW!” How cool is that? Of course, Chaim didn’t understand a word.
On Thursday the Yeshiva went on a tiyul (trip) to the Gush and Chevron. It was an incredible day for everyone. We saw a physical representation of the various laws of Shemitta, visited a winery, stopped at Kibbutz Kfar Etzion and then toured the building in Chevron (among other sites there) that is at the heart of the current controversy there.
At one point, in Kfar Etzion, we were pointed out the building that houses the High School of Rav Shteinzaltz. Little did we know that less than twelve hours later, that very school was to be the target of a terrorist attack. It was quite shocking to hear the news and realize that we had walked by the very same spot – albeit with armed escort.
On Friday morning I got an email from one of the guys who was at the meeting in my house earlier in the week that the chareidim from across the street had spray painted the sidewalk outside our block. Our street is a dead end, but only because it sits about two to three feet above the street it would normally intersect near my house and is about twenty feet below the level of the street perpendicular.
In order to make it easier for pedestrians, there are stairs from our street to the adjacent streets and it was the sidewalk just outside those stairs that were spray painted with a message “Modest dress required when passing this way”.
Not that I am against modest dress, but this graffiti set me off.
I called a few fellows from the block and together we scrubbed the paint off the bricks by one set of stairs, and then we went out and bought some spray paint matching the color of the sidewalk by the other stairs and covered that message over as well.
While we were working, several of the Chareidim came by and one of our guys stopped to talk to
each one. Some of them knew what was going on and others didn’t. In the end, he spoke with one fellow who said that he wanted to set up a meeting with one of their Rabbis to try and diffuse the tension. So we’ll see, some good might come of it.
Meanwhile, more and more neighbors keep moving in, so it is exciting here on Rechov Gad. Of course, it isn’t that much of a treat when their moving boxes and packing paper are strewn all over the block – but what can you do?
PART TWO
I missed my deadline last week, so I can update you on a lot more that happened since then.
We met with the guys from across the street. Well, not me personally – but one of my neighbors and our Rav. I cannot argue with the results. Not only was the threatening letter withdrawn, but a personal apology was made – twice! We have a dialogue between us that no one thought possible.
There will still be flare-ups, and this meeting only solved (at least for now) one of the issues. There are many others yet to be covered. But dialogue is dialogue, and you cannot belittle how much better things feel in the neighborhood right now. And they also claim that spray painting is not their tactics – so we still have the spray painter to deal with.
We also had a town hall meeting with the Mayor and Police Chief. The crowd was over four hundred angry people – mostly anglos (American, English, Australian and South African with a Canadian here and there), and they were there to protest the violence that the police were letting happen as well as the mayor giving certain plots of land for some of the biggest of the troublemakers to make a school just outside our neighborhood.
It was clear that the mayor never expected so many people, nor the level of anger they had over the continuing situation. I even had one native Israeli tell me that it was the largest “political” meeting EVER in Bet Shemesh. And they got the point – even though they weren’t as forthcoming at the meeting that they could have been.
Yet, they agreed to meet with us on a regular basis (the Police Chief has already held his first meeting) and based on the newspapers that have come out in the last week, it seems as if all sides are finally looking to talk to each other and work together where they can find common ground. Which is a good thing.
The speed with which things came to a head and action started being taken took me by surprise. Especially when the “veterans” said that nothing could be done at all. Yes, we still have issues to face that will become heated, but then again – I would rather be fighting this argument than one concerning who runs the school board.
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