Not Kedai for most people--Moving to the secular state of israel (SSOI)

Will it be good for the children? Rabbi Shais Taub explains: "On the other hand, there are marriages that continue in a marital union, but they are failures. They’re not successful unions. There’s no divorce, but I wouldn’t call it success. I think you have to define what a successful marriage is before you can say what’s a failure of a marriage. And then ask the question, what quality is most indicative of a failed marriage. And the answer is – and a lot of people aren’t going to like this--marriage is not for your personal fulfilment. It's not because you want a relationship. It's not because you want to play house. Marriage is not for you. Marriage is, because this is one of the primary ways that we serve our Maker. We were put in this world to serve our Maker, to perform a mission, to make this world a better place. One of the primary ways in which we make the world a better place is by creating a family and a home. A successful marriage is one where there is a family ...

3,000,000 Israeli New Shekel equals 831,485.59 United States Dollars. Need I say any more? Salaries in Israel are half that of the USA, and a third of what Jews in the USA typically earn. Salaries for non-Hebrew speaking Olim are half of that. Yet, you need $800,000 for an apartment with one room for the parents, one for the girls, and one for the boys. If you have six kids, where are you going stick everyone? And when they marry, how are you going to afford the apartment that you are expected to buy them? 100 square meters is 1076 square feet. A typical American home, in say Cleveland, is 1,500 square feet with a yard. Cost? $150,000. So let's summarize: Beit Shemesh: 3 bedrooms, no yard, 1076 square feet, $800,000. Cleveland Heights: 3 bedrooms, front and back yard, 1,500 square feet, $150,000. And Cleveland has much higher salaries. As for the cynical, judgmental, ignorant and  generally affluent rabbis who move to Israel and claim that anyone who doesn't want to move there ...

You're all excited about the prospect of moving to Israel. A new adventure into a place that always in the news. I have news for you. It's always in the news because it's a lunatic asylum, not because interesting things come from the place. It's in the news because it never changes its tactics. Its method is always war, war, war. Modern Israel did not grow organically. It's the concoction of some crazy men like Herzl and Nordau. Mark Twain once said that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. That's Israel, a camel. As a result, it's very boring. Take for example Jerusalem stone. Doesn't that sound elegant? But it isn't. It's architecture by committee, every building with the boring beige. This is a commonplace in the design world. Google it.  OK, you are too lazy. I'll do it for you: "Beige is so bland and boring to the point of it being a depressing color." Beige is even an adjective that desribes a boring person: "Baige...

'A worrying trend': The report highlighted a rise in spotters' complaints about mistreatment by IDF commanders, including verbal abuse, threats with weapons, and physical violence such as kicking, choking and slapping. Many women of military age set to be drafted have requested not to serve as Israel Defense Forces field spotters since the October 7 Hamas massacre in southern Israel, and many who have been assigned to the position have refused to serve in that capacity, according to an annual report by the army's ombudsman. continue reading

  The Defense Minister also admitted this on Channel 12 in Israel.  You want to live in a country like that? Is that called coming home?

Boarding a bus in a Haredi neighborhood, a frum woman is sitting in the front part of the bus, which any good frum women knows is for the men. The women's part of the bus has its own door and is actually easier to enter since you don't have to walk around the driver booth. I'd prefer to sit in the women's section as in crazy Israel, I don't like sitting with my back to people. So let's not call it the "back of the bus," because that evokes associations with Segregation. It isn't the back. It's half the bus. Actually on accordion buses it always turns out to be more than half because the women still sit in the second half of the first bus. So this woman sits in a four seater, when a one seater is available in the men's section, all by herself. Chassidic men who board the bus have nowhere to sit. The are standing, rocking with every swing around the traffic circlez. So this woman opens a siddur and starts davening pizukei d'zimra as the m...

Aliyah pushers say the darndest things as do children, but children have an excuse. They have immature minds. So do aliyah pushers, but they have no excuse for this. When I was considering making yeridah to ssoi, I mentioned to a person whose mind was deranged from Zionism that the Israelis I met in New York were abrasive and kind of crazy. So an aliyah pusher always a comeback. You can do that when you fail to think and just spout memorized foolishness. He said, oh the worst people leave Israel. I heard this said in a different way. The most idealistic people move to Israel. It's an inverse of the same propaganda. I found the opposite. I have found that many of the people left ssoi because they were sane. They knew that the place was a lunatic asylum so they got the courage to leave. They are some of the best people. And those who move to ssoi are some of the worst. They aren't logical first of all. If they came with family they are completely irresponsible, living in fantasy....