Bookstore on every corner?

That's what they told me. Because here's how it works. Israel is said to be the Jewish state and since Jews are the most intellectual and moral and wonderful people in the history of the world - whether they be Torah observant or not - anything you want Israel to be it must be.

But we Torah observant Jews - I'm not talking about the "Religious" Zionists now - know that Jews without Torah are the biggest pains in the neck on earth and are not the most wonderful people who ever lived.

And so Israel doesn't have a bookstore on every corner. In fact, it hardly has any bookstores at all. There's one small chain that contains as many toys and games as books in its tiny stores and nearly zero books in English. Just a few trash novels. Jerusalem has a used book store or two, but it's quite a hike to get there.

Israel doesn't have libraries. There's no, public library in every town. You don't realize as an American how spoiled you are when it comes to public and university libraries. 

On top of that, it's not easy to get books shipped here. Takes weeks, even months. It's expensive, as much as the book. And it the post office requires an appointment for interacting with. Their website is all in Hebrew too.

How about asking people who are coming to Israel to bring the book with them. Well, if you know somebody who is going to America, and you find out in time to get the book shipped to them - if they happen to be staying in one place that doesn't mind getting your shipments, it's not so easy to get the book shipped to them. Barnes and Noble, for example, keeps canceling my orders, presumably because I'm overseas.

That's a reoccurring problem here. There's so much fraud in the world, that American businesses often don't trust overseas customers. On top of that, most business won't ship overseas. Most of e-bay is like that. It's too much trouble with taxation and all that. And Israel is a pain in the next about tariffs and import.

Now and again, somebody sells their used books. So if you want to buy a few used cheap novels and books praising the state of Israel and Zionism, they might be available.

If you have any kind of intellectual curiosity, if you seek to continue your education, do not move to Israel!