Choel Moed trip

Since the cost of buying a car is double in Israel, I don't own one. Occasionally, I rent. Yesterday, I rented a car for a chol moed trip. Cost? 480 NIS which is $130.00, with insurance. And that's with a 50 NIS saving from prepayment. What would the same car have cost me in Denver, Colorado? $50, plus insurance which would have been around $15.

I drove 70 miles roundtrip. Cost for gas in Israel 109 NIS which is $30. Cost in the USA? $7.58

Total cost in Denver? ~$73. Total cost in Israel ~$160. That's more than twice the price.

Now where did I go, to the Zoo in Ramat Gan. Not a bad zoo by the way. I once came here via public transportation. I took a bus, to the train, to a taxi. Return trip I took a long walk to a bus to a train to a bus. Traveling time was at least three hours each way. So public transportation really isn't an option, certainly not with children.

Denver has a zoo. Ticket prices:

Ramat Gan:

Denver Zoo tickets would have cost me $166. The Zoo in Ramat Gan cost me 580 nis which is $157.16. So it's roughly the same. But, our income here for two working parents is less than half what it would be in Denver for just me working. So the Zoo price adjusted for median income is double in Israel.

Total cost in Denver $239 for the day. Total cost in Israel $317. Denver is 75% the cost of Israel.

Additionally, the driving distance from the Denver Kollel to the Denver Zoo is 10 miles, a twenty minute trip.

The distance from my home to the Ramat Gan Zoo is 60 KM, which is 37 miles. But it was a one hour and a half trip through traffic, with confusion at the end because the streets are complicated in Ramat Gan and signs for the zoo are not to be found. Israel stress count +1.

Also, it's a smaller car in Israel so there's the stress of family being packed into a small car. Israel stress count +2.

Also, since the car is a rental, I had to pick it up and return it. That took an hour, and it's a somewhat stressful hour, dealing with car rental people, trying to not get cut in line, which is common in Israel, checking out the new car, figuring out how it works, getting instructions from the Hebrew only car guy. Israel stress count+3.

The travel time in Denver is half an hour total. The travel time in Israel is four hours, plus making sure the gas is filled to max for the return. Also parking at the Ramat Gan zoo was challenging. I imagine that it would not be so difficult in Denver. Israel stress count +4.

Since the Zoo in Israel is so much further away we had to pack a meal, which is a nuisance, rather than a snack, which we would have done in Denver. Israel stress count +5.

Then there's dealing with Israelis the whole way through. It wasn't horrible but I have skin like leather at this point. Israel stress count +6.

But let's get real. For me the trip started at 7:30 AM and finished at 10:00 PM. I spent that entire time getting the car, getting everybody ready for the big trip, packing the food (which as mentioned is stressful because you have to be sure you have enough for the whole day), driving, finding the place (which is harder because we don't have Smart phones as that is prohibited in Haredi society in Israel - Israel stress count +5), sitting in traffic, finding parking, zoo stuff, parking afterward for eating, driving home, cleaning out the rental car. It was a 14 and a half an hour saga. I can't imagine that I couldn't have accomplished the same in 5 hours in Denver, which would have allowed for relaxation plus 3 hours of Torah study.

So the day away in Denver would be 75% the financial cost and 11% the time cost, and much less aggravation in general. As mentioned, some of that time spent in travel would have been spent instead on Torah study. I would say that I would have studied for three hours or so. So bitul Torah is involved here too. Tell me aliyah pushers, what's more important Torah study or living in Israel? I want to hear your answer so I can know who am I dealing with.

Here's a place I could have studied Torah for three hours in Denver.