Life in Israel

I raise my eyes upon the mountains; Whence will come my help? My help is from the L-rd, Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2, Stone Edition

What happens when you emigrate to another country? Is it difficult to learn a new language? Is life more primitive abroad? How does your life change? What about religion? And, if you live in the Middle East, do you constantly worry about terrorism?

Actually, life is not so different overseas. When I made Aliyah, I spent my first year living in the Absorption Center, an apartment complex for new immigrants with on-site new immigrant services and Hebrew classes.

My parents in front of the Absorption Center in Raanana

It was a very interesting experience. I was assigned an apartment with two flatmates: one from Ethiopia and one from Argentina (pictured at right with her new baby). Orit (from Ethiopia) actually made Aliyah over ten years ago with her family and is currently in law school. Vanesa, like I, was a Zionist in her early thirties. Orit had the bigger culture shock dealing with us, between her horror at the disgusting things in my American cookbook (Africans view eating pork as we would view eating dog) and Vanesa's waxing kit from Buenos Aires. It was there that I learned how to make Yerba Mate, a very addictive South American green tea.

New immigrants are usually matched up with local families so they don't feel so homesick on Sabbaths and holidays. The local family becomes your "adopted family" in Israel. My "adopted family" is a Haredi family from Baltimore. I miss them very much.

Israelis are very technology-oriented. I was surprised to learn that they are actually a little more advanced than Americans. Israelis also love free things. The library, which has free high-speed internet access, is a very popular place. Bezalel is the security guard at Raanana's library. Everyone knows him there.

Israelis come from diverse backgrounds, even China! Most Jews from the Far East are of Iraqi descent. The Israelis on the left (with Filipina caretaker, another common sight in Israel) are from Surabaya, Indonesia. They are of Iraqi descent.

Israel is the Holy Land. You can't visit without making at least one Pilgrimage. There are four holy cities representing each of the four elements: Jerusalem - Fire Mount Moriah (the site of the Temples) was where burnt offerings to the L-rd were offered. Tsfat - Wind Located high in the mountains, this center of Kabbalist study is practically in the air. Hebron - Earth The Cave of Machpelah in Hebron is the burial site of the Patriarchs and some of the Matriarchs in Genesis. Adam and Eve are also supposedly buried there. Tiberius - Water The great sage Moses Maimonides was buried in this coastal town. The pictures on the right are from when my parents visited in November 2000. We made Pilgrimages to Tiberius and Tsfat together.

A lot of people have asked me if it was scary living in Israel because of the current situation there with terrorism. Actually, from day to day, it didn't really affect our lives in Raanana. Raanana is a very safe place with good security. Certain areas are more dangerous. As a rule, I avoided crowded areas (like certain cities that are frequently targeted by terrorists) and buses if I didn't need to use them. As we all learned on September 11th, however, it is impossible to predict where terrorists will strike. Overall, I felt safer in Raanana than I do in the States.

The Israeli soldiers work very hard to keep terrorist strikes from happening. Sometimes they get killed doing this. Everyone in Raanana was saddened when Ari Weiss was killed in the line of duty in 2002. His father used to be the rabbi for the Absorption Center and is still very active in the Raanana community, delivering spiritual advice at several synagogues and distributing material help to many poor immigrants. Rabbi Weiss and his wife Susie are friends of mine. If you would like to help to honor Ari's memory by donating to Ohel Ari, please contact me via email and I will be happy to get you in contact with the Weisses.