Not available in Israel

You might think that I write here from the perspective of Haredim, but for the Modern Orthodox, the target market for the liars at Nefesh b'Nefesh, life in Israel is just wonderful.

However, arguably life is even worse here for the MO than it is for Haredim. Yes, the Haredim live in poverty. Yes, they must deal with the police. A friend of mine was in Beit Shemesh this week and told me how he watched the police spraying skunk water on women who were standing on the sidewalk as the protests over the autopsy went on, how the police beat protestors with heavy sticks and launched stun grenades. It's a tough life for Haredim.

But it's rough for the MO in a different way. I have talked about MO life here, how it's so much less religious, women in pants for example. I have talked about how machmir MOs from YU come here and their kids come out barely religious if religious at all. I have talked about the army ordeal, even for the MOs, and how I have been to shivas for a dozen soldiers this year.

I have talked about how sports fans might miss the Yankees, how art lovers will miss the Met., how classical music aficionados will have to live one once a year with 25 player orchestras and a two hour trip to see them. Do you enjoy theater? There is none. Do you want to act in a play? Forget about it. It ain't happening.

Do you play golf? There's one 18 hole course in the entire country, and it's up in Caesarea. There are no batting cages. Monsey has a batting cage. Manhattan has a batting cage. New Jersey has tons of them, and driving ranges, and golf courses. Israel doesn't have that stuff.

Book lovers will suffer unless they are fluent in Hebrew. There are no English language book stores here, except for one small place for used books in Jerusalem. Where I lived in America, there was a huge Barnes and Noble five minutes from my house. Actually, there are few bookstores in Hebrew outside of the Torah sefarim stores. One of the lies I was told about Israel is that there's a bookstore on every corner. It's so untrue. Was it ever true? 

Even remote media viewing is limited. Let's say that your kid, in his boredom living in a tiny country with few fun activities, becomes a soccer fan and wants to watch the games of the great Ronaldo who will be retiring soon.

Well, you can't do it here, at least not that I have yet worked out. The online networks that broadcast his matches aren't available in Israel. That includes Fubo and YouTube TV. You get used to seeing this in Israel:

Fox Soccer Plus is a premium television network and streaming service dedicated to soccer and international sports, featuring leagues like UEFA Champions League, Serie A, and FA Cup, plus rugby and Australian Rules Football. It is available as a paid add-on through major providers like DIRECTV, Dish Network, Fubo, and Verizon. The service generally costs around $14.99–$15.00 per month. 

DIRECTV, including DIRECTV Stream and satellite services, is not officially available outside the United States due to content licensing restrictions. The service is restricted to the 50 states, and generally does not work in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Users traveling abroad typically need a VPN to access the service. 

Due to copyright restrictions, the online videos on DISH Anywhere are currently available only to users within the United States and its territories.

Fubo is primarily designed for the U.S. market but is officially available in Canada and Spain, though with different, region-specific content libraries. It is generally not available outside these three countries. Travelers can sometimes access their U.S. account using a VPN or by accessing from U.S. territories.

Verizon Fios TV and the Fios TV Mobile app are not officially available or supported outside the United States and its territories due to licensing and content restrictions. Accessing content, including live TV and on-demand, typically requires a US-based IP address, though some users report success using VPNs. 

YouTube TV is only officially available in the United States. The service requires a US-based payment method and a US zip code to sign up, as it is designed for American residents. It is geoblocked, meaning it generally cannot be accessed outside the US without a VPN to mask your location. 

In which countries is DAZN available? DAZN is a leading sports streaming service in Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, France, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, the US and UK.

I'm still trying to figure out DAZN as the CEO is Israeli. However, the DAZN site indicates that the Saudi Pro League, which is Ronaldo's league, is not available for live matches, only highlights.

Does DAZN show Saudi league?

DAZN Broadens Global Football Offering With ROSHN Saudi League Highlights. DAZN invests in global home of football offering, adding free-to-view ROSHN Saudi League highlights to its platform for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 seasons. Fans can catch the most important game moments on DAZN's ROSHN Saudi League hub.

Even if I do work this out, I had to waste an enormous amount of time doing so. 

As you get older, you see just how much you took for granted. And when you move to Israel, you see it even more. This place is so barren. Remember the Mark Twain travel account? Israel is still like that relative to where the world is today. Why is it that any time somebody goes to America you think, can they pick up something for me there? Let's say you do self publishing online. You will use an American company -- I don't know of any here -- and the shipping costs to Israel make the project cost prohibitive. $9 to produce the book. $30 to ship it. So you wind up orchestrating this project where you ship the book to someone in America and the person visiting there schleps to somebody to pick it up for you and takes it back, and then you get on a bus, after waiting for the bus, to go to him to pick it up from him. What was a click of a button in America, becomes a five hour project here, one where you have to bother people. 

Do you want to buy a car? They are twice the price here and your salary is 1/4 of that you had in America.  So you'll settle for a used one? You'll spend $6,000 for a 15 year old car with 200,000 miles on it. Used cars also are twice the price and availability is slim. I tried to shop for one this week and found out that you have to grab the car in one day because it gets taken that fast, even for the high price. 

Those Nefesh b'Nefesh ads with the grinning Modern Orthodox couples and their two small children, big smiles on their faces, and the banner: Welcome Home -- it's all so deceptive. How is this home? If you have to say goodbye to most everything you enjoy, how is it home? 

I can still hear raging aliyanik Aaron Rakeffet in my ears, talking about the "revolution" brought by Nefesh b'Nefesh, that sham organization that doesn't do much more than run a deceptive website and push ads into your feed but only when you are in America. Once you get to Israel they cease to exist. 

Rakeffet, who is very emotional, got in a tizzy about the high tuition prices in America, how it's impossible to survive there because of it. So what then, move to Israel where your salary is 1/5 that of America, homes are 5x the price, and army servitude is mandatory? He doesn't mention that part. That's what you call propaganda, when you show only what you want to show.

Sheker. That you'll find lots of Israel. To me, it's the land of sheker. They lie about everything. It's the one thing that there's no shortage of here.