Without a car

 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's 7.5 hours round trip travel for 20 miles. Took the entire day, because I don't have a car. Why don't I have one? "Purchasing a car in Israel can be expensive, due to very high taxation. Permanent residents pay close to 100% tax on their cars." So figure it's more than twice the price. Again, so much for all the modern conveniences. You hear that RHS?




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