Moving to Israel - Not Kedai for most people

The Modern Orthodox are gaga for the state of israel. Just go to any website of a MO school and look at their mission statements: Ramaz : "Still, the essence of Ramaz resides in our mission, our commitment to menschlichkeit, to the values of human dignity and mutual respect.  This is bound together by our commitment to the Jewish people, to Medinat Yisrael, and to Orthodox observance—the strength of our heritage."    Not Eretz Yisroel but Medinat Yisrael, And that comes before Orthodox observance. And Hashem is not mentioned at all. SAR Academy : "Raising our students’ connection to Hashem (Ahavat Hashem and Yir’at Shamayim), commitment to Talmud Torah, observance of Mitzvot and connection to Medinat Yisrael." That's better, Hashem is first, and Torah and mitzvos precede Medinat Yisroel. But again, since when do Jews historically have an allegiance to a secular state? And why is Eretz Yisroel replaced by Medinat Yisroel? Maimonides : "Maimonides is more tha

The Gemara says not to go up like a wall and not to take the land by force. There's no debate in the Gemara about that. And we cherish every word, right? The early settlers didn't go up like a wall. They came in small numbers and settled in open spaces. That's cool. But the rabid Zionists came along in big numbers and then worst of all declared a state against the will of the people who live in EY and near it. That's a violation of the oaths. And all the trouble we have had since then is a result of this violation. How do I know that? The Rambam says so in his letter to Teman: Solomon, of blessed memory, foresaw with Divine inspiration, that the prolonged duration of the exile would incite some of our people to seek to terminate it before the proper time, and as a consequence they would perish or meet with disaster. Therefore he warned them (to desist) from it and adjured them in metaphorical language, as we read, "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gaz

 Just so you don't think I hate everything about Israel, today I was on a bus and saw a couple racing for the bus. They were far from the stop though. The driver, a young man with a Greek warrior beard and a chup - IOW a chiloni - saw them too. And when the bus came to a stop, he waited a good while for them to catch up and board. I thought, what a good natured fellow. Sure enough when I was getting off at my stop, I found a credit card on the street. The driver saw me pick it up, and he said that maybe it belonged to one of the ladies who just got on the bus. So he opened the door so I could inquire. A good natured fellow. I do meet them here. Actually many of them are much nicer than the Anglo olim, who oftentimes are materialistic and selfish and violent people. 

We all know of the dangers of the Internet. It's tearing apart the frum world. Imagine if in 1970, you were told that you couldn't deal with your bank unless you had a TV in your house. That's the Internet today. So what to do? I don't know, but I do know that the challenges are far worse for olim in Israel. Here's why. If you come here without knowing Hebrew, you are likely to get a job -- if you can get one --  online working at home and probably with American hours. This means your kids will see you on the Internet all day long. And they'll want to be on it too. How many times can you say no to an activity that you are doing?  Oh you're working. They don't know the difference. And you'll check the news. You'll shop, because computer jobs are boring as you sit there all day long working by yourself. And then there's the over-the-top response to COVID where so-called Charedi schools forced children to be on the Internet in response to school

This out of control man was just so happy that he believed he got permission to behave like a beast. How did his own conscience give the permission? Oh, he surrendered that long ago.  I can tell you so many scary police stories over here. In all my years in America, I knew only one frum Jew who was ever arrested. He had a crazy ex-wife that would call the police if he ever passed her in the street. The police would apologize to him before the arrest. Here, I know two dozen people who have been arrested. One was davening outside during COVID. Nobody was within 20 feet of him. Another was arrested after a social worker called the police on him for nothing he ever did. They shackled him, hand and foot, they wouldn't let him use the bathroom. They denied him water. In Israel, the arrest is the punishment. Israelis are big on calling the police. I have a friend whose landlord called the police on him for being one day late with the rent. I have seen Israeli teenagers threaten to call th

  In America, I had two cars. Now I ride the bus and train. And here's how that works. I had a simchas bat today, 20 miles from my home. So at 7 AM I headed for the 7:10 bus, which got me to the 7:51 train, which had a layover, which got me to the other town at 9:15. Then I waited in the heat for a 1/2 hour for a bus which took a 1/2 hour. But it wasn't the bus I planned to take, that one never came. So I took another one that got me in the vicinity. So there was a 1/2 hour walk, but I couldn't find that shul because it wasn't actually at the address that was on the invitation and wasn't on google maps either. In fact most of this new development isn't on maps. So much for all the modern conveniences. So I walked around in the heat for an hour until finally finding a guy who told me where to go. Travel time 4 hours! I spent 1 hour with Modern Orthodox people who looked at their phones more than the other people, then headed back. Return trip 3.5 hours. That'

Was introduced today to a lady who engaged me in some where have you lived in EY chatter. Every answer invoked giggles of joy as if each of the dumpy little towns is paradise. She said, isn't it wonderful to live here? I said, maybe. That set her off on to deliver a litany of Baruch Hashems and she gives thanks every day and all that garbage. I mentioned the danger. She said she feels safe and asked sarcastically if I have seen any missiles in my central Israel town. I told her, I worry for the soldiers. See, she hadn't thought of that. She just thinks of herself. And that is typical of so-called Zionists, especially the women I'm sorry to say. They don't deal with Israelis so much, with mean teachers, with screaming bus drives. They live in Anglo enclaves and drive around in their fancy cars. They are not Zionists really. They fantasize that they are some kind of chalutzim but they are just materialists who want a Jewish flavor to their materialism. They want their own

Zionists always throw that Ramban at ya, even though the Ramban himself didn't move to Israel until the last 2 years of his life. The implication is that you gain a mitzvah by living here. But you lose so many. Example, Ahavas Yisroel. Anglos have so many terrible experiences with Israelis that they develop serious hostility to Jews in Israel. You have to be quite the tzadick to love these people. You might even come to harbor hostility to the land when you see it covered in traffic and ugly buildings and when your entire experience is negative even the mitzvah of yishuv ha'aretz becomes unpleasant. You lose Torah study because you work 6 days a week. You lose hachnachas orchim because your tiny apartment has no room for guests. You lose tzedukah because you have little money for it. You lose middos because you learn to be pushy and argumentative. You learn to hate. And all of this is magnified because you are doing it in the Holy Land. So don't fall for this Ramban says sc

So you want to mail a letter? First you need a stamp. I have never found any way of acquiring them other than going to the post office. In my town, nobody sells stamps. But the post office won't talk to you without an appointment. Yes, an appointment. You can't just stop by and use a vending machine. They don't have that. You have to go online and make an appointment which is never less than half a week away. You must arrive within a ten minute window or you missed your chance. So you come on time, wait, and then go to the service desk and deal with the grumpy, scowling Israeli clerk. OK, so you got your stamps. If you took them home to say stick them on several letters, you now have to go back to the post office because there are no mail boxes in town and the postman surely isn't taking them from your house. Yes, you can only mail letters from the post office itself, at least in the town where I live. Since I don't have a car, I have to wait for the bus, or take th

Has a nice ring to it, no? Parents and teachers. You picture love and concern. Not in Israel. I was talking to a teenage girl recently. She told me she can barely cope with the screaming of the teachers. Some of them yell every day, over the dumbest things. And they embarrass they kids, telling a 16 year old girl to go outside in the hall because she looked out the window, or fidgeted. Won't let them eat or drink. I get reports of meanness all the time. A guy just told me, "I have been working with Israelis in the Cheder. Israelis. Oh my gosh. I'm not sure how these kids survive Israeli parents." I guess that's how Israeli students deal with their teachers. They are used to the rough treatment from their parents. Message to Americans, don't put your kids through this. They'll become angry and rude, just like Israelis. They might even become disturbed. Surely they'll hate school. 

 

  We should encourage each other in mitzvos, even when done in ways that are not our way. Thus, if a bochur wants to learn the tikun on Shavuous, the Yeshivish rabbi shouldn't discourage him. If a boy says he's a Chabad shliach, a Litvish rabbi shouldn't discourage him. He should say, wonderful! Sadly, that's oftentimes not what happens. But we do the reverse. We  encourage foolishness. For example, name any city in Israel to a Zionist and he starts yelping with glee. Ooh, aah. You lived in Afulah! Aah. Yeah, dumpy Afulah. Every town here is a dump. What's the excitement about? Now if you want to praise actual Eretz Yisroel, the Negev, the Galil, those places somewhat untainted by secularity, that I get. The result of the oohing and aahing is you get the deceptive sales pitch. Modin! Ah. Like it's some magical place, instead of another boring Israeli city full of sinners. And you wind up moving there and learning the hard way, not to trust the ooh and aah. Afula

  Tried to go to the Israel musuem today. Took a long time to get there. It's not a good location. But for those who are interested, you get on the 66 aleph at the Chords Bridge.  But guess what. They were closed. Closed on Sunday. Here are the hours Opening hours Sunday | Closed Monday | 10 am – 4 pm Tuesday | 4 pm – 8 pm Wednesday | Closed Thursday | 10 am – 4 pm Friday | 10 am – 2 pm Saturday | 10 am – 4 pm That's 26 hours total.  Let's compare to the Detroit Museum: Hours Monday Closed Tuesday-Thursday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Friday 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. That's 43 hours total. NY Metropolitan Museum of Art Hours: Sunday–Tuesday and Thursday: 10 am–5 pm Extended Hours: Friday and Saturday: 10 am–9 pm That's 55 hours total. British Museum Daily: 10.00–17.00 (Fridays: 20.30)  That's 73.5 hours total. You get the point. Israel is not the land of culture and intellect that you assumed it would be. 

  So hold on to your tech job in America. Don't believe RHS's claim that you will find a similar job in Israel.

 Here's what you see when you register on the Israel tax site: כללי רשות המסים מעניקה לך אפשרות גישה למידע אישי וביצוע פעולות באופן מקוון. לצורך ביצוע הפעולות עליך להזדהות ולהירשם באתר האינטרנט של רשות המסים. במסגרת הרישום לקבלת שירות ברשות המסים, תתבקש למסור את מספר הטלפון הנייד שלך ו/או את כתובת הדוא"ל שלך. נתונים אלה ישמרו במאגרי המידע של רשות המסים לצורך העברת דיוור ו/או הודעות. עליך לדעת כי מסירת הפרטים אינה מחויבת על פי חוק, אולם ללא מסירת פרטים המוגדרים כ"חובה" לא תוכל לבצע את הרישום ולהשתמש בשירותים המוצעים. במהלך הרישום תתבקש לבחור בשאלות מזהות, ולספק את התשובה להן. פעולה זו מאפשרת ביצוע זיהוי טוב יותר ושימוש בטוח יותר בשירותים. בסיום התהליך תקבל מהמערכת סיסמאות אישיות אשר יזהו אותך בעת השימוש בשירותים המקוונים והטלפוניים. עליך לנקוט בכל האמצעים לשמירה על הסיסמאות והתשובות לשאלות המזהות בסוד, ולפעול בהתאם להנחיות רשות המסים כפי שתהיינה מעת לעת. במקרה של חשש לחשיפת הסיסמאות האישיות של רשות המסים יש לבצע החלפת סיסמה באופן יזום ומיידי באתר האינטרנט של רשות המסי

You probably have heard of Maale Adumim. It's one of those towns that you hear somebody is living in. It's said with a smile, with a familiarity as if they said, he's living in St. Louis. And you think, nice Jewish town. But this isn't America. It's Israel.  Maale Adumim is 10 miles from Jerusalem. It's in Area C of the West Bank. It's a town that the Zionists built as part of their plan to insert themselves into the West Bank. There's plenty of room for cities within the Green Line. Plenty of open space. No need to build in Area C.  But build they did. And with that comes pain. Let's first talk about the transportation. Took me 3/4 hour to get to Jerusalem, where I got on a local bus that took me to the light rail, where I traveled to Munitions Hill (so much is named after war here). A bus took me to the entrance of Maale Adumim. I'm traveling 2 hours thus far.  At the entrance is the checkpoint. Two soldiers boarded the bus and came looking for

I  hear people say that Israel is a high-tech country. I think they are assuming that because it's full of Jews that they must be brilliant (even though obnoxious). I live in Israel. It is not a high tech country. A few weapons have been developed there, as well as another invention or two that they tell you about every chance they get. Otherwise, this place is like Arkansas circa 1950. Go to the Tel Aviv bus depot some time. That's the main bus station in the main city. It looks like  the Congo in there. It's a mess. It's damp, dirty, and primitive. Cheap wares for sale. Try out some Israeli web sites. The main Israel bus information website hasn't worked in years. In each big city, the electronic boards that are supposed to tell us when buses are coming are unreliable most of the time. The bank machines are unable to receive deposits about half the time and most of the time they are unable to issue receipts. If there's any decent medical care, it's all equ

  Israeli forces accused of killing their own citizens under the 'Hannibal Directive' during October 7 chaos - ABC News "Hannibal at Erez, dispatch a Zik [attack drone]," came the command on October 7. Those words, reported by Israeli newspaper Haaretz in July, confirm what many Israelis have feared since the Hamas attacks on October 7 in southern Israel. Israeli forces have killed their own citizens. Israeli authorities say more than 800 civilians and around 300 soldiers were killed on October 7. A number of Israeli hostages have since died in Gaza. Israelis are still reeling from the horror and pain of the Hamas-led terror attack, which was the bloodiest single day in Israel's history. But the Israeli military is coming under increasing pressure to reveal just how many of their own citizens were killed by Israeli soldiers, pilots and police in the confusion of the Hamas attack on southern Israeli communities. Survivors and relatives have been asking not just &qu