Ulpan, No Ulpan, Intro to Israeli Medicine and Gush Eztion

I apologize for the long delay in posting. Here is a synopsis of our life in Israel since we arrived.


1. Efrat - Efrat is located in Gush Eztion but is considered its own municipality. It has its own city government (which I had the rare opportunity to meet during one of their emergency drills) and is home to around 8,000 plus families. We rented a 5 bedroom apartment with gorgeous views of the Judea"n Hills. For some reason we are only using two rooms since all four kids are insisting in sleeping in one bed. (Yitzi went to sleep later so he is not in this picture)

The people here in Efrat are very sweet, caring and outgoing. We have been overwhelmed with calls to the house every day with offers for help of every kind and are currently booked for all Shabbat meals for the next month straight. The kids continue to enjoy the "Israel Kids Zone", as I call the entire country, because Israel is basically built for kids. Even the little ones are starting to exert an independence both Mimi nor I ever saw in Florida. 


Intro To Israeli Medicine


Our second Shabbat here unfortunately brought with it a health scare. We were out for the Friday night meal when I got a very severe abdominal attack that felt like someone stabbing me. We went home and called the emergency Efrat medical response number. A Doctor, Dr. Yitz Glick actually came to the house! He started me on IV pain meds and I was ok within a few hours. He then followed up the next day by picking me up personally and taking me to the medical center for blood work. He then streamlined the process for me to get a scan at the Jerusalem office of Maccabi (our health plan) Between Dr. Glick and Dr. Ben-Zev I can not tell you how impressed I was not just by the quick response of the system here but but the personal active involvement of the MD's. They went, in my mind, above and beyond what I would ever expect, but by local standards is considered their norm. I want to use this forum to thank both of them as well as the staff at Maccabi Health. 


CAR 


After finally learning the bus system here we finally rented a car. It has been a real thrill driving around Israel. The feeling is amazing to see the scenery of the Judean Hills driving into Jerusalem. So far the only down side I see to driving here is filling up the tank which cost nearly $120 US dollars. However, I think that is worth it for the privilege of driving in Israel. Hopefully, the state will eventually convert over to electric or natural gas powered cars.


ULPAN


Mimi and I have decided that we want to do Ulpan together so I am going to restart Ulpan in September. I look forward to being in a classroom setting with Mimi. 


THE KOTEL


Going to the Kotel as a citizen of Israel was a completely different experience than as a tourist. The feeling was one of being much more connected. All of our kids had very different reactions. Sarah went with Mimi on the lady's side and apparently enjoyed herself. Yitzi, Sruli and Goldie went with me to the far left side that is covered. The summer heat was too intense to be outside at that time of day. Yitzi davened very intensely for almost 30 min. No siddur just his face up against the wall. Sruli and Goldie were fascinated byt he see through glass that gives viewers an unreal view of the tunnels beneath.  Sruli has been asking everyday since to go back to Yerushalayim and the Old City so he can see the Kotel.

Since we were in Jerusalem we decided to take a trip (ON FRIDAY) to Machane Yehuda (The Shuk). Very Very Very bad idea on a Friday with 4 kids. We made our way somehow through the market with the stroller and the kids. Mimi had ha little run-in with a local Israeli.  The kids were overwhelmed and upset.  Sarah had tried to eat a bag of popcorn.  Not the popcorn, just the bag, so Mimi took it away.  Sarah was very upset and began crying in that very loud high pitched scream of hers.  A woman then very forcefully began banging Mimi on the back and yelled at her, gesturing with her hands and yelling something about the baby.  She then swiftly disappeared into the crowd as quickly as she appeared.It was an amazing scene but one that we will not be going back to on a Friday for a while. 

SUMMARY

So far things have been both eye opening, tiring and a little scary. We are still not certain where we are going to when this lease is up at the end of August. We also need to lease a car for a longer time period. We are still learning basic things like how to food shop here and where to shop. However, along the way we are meeting amazing people that literally have taken us by the hand to show us and assist. The people are amazing here. Israeli life is not exactly what we had anticipated before we moved but in some ways it is better. The worst part (which really isn't that bad is NO WALGREENS). Even though it is Israel and we love it this transition is more than we thought it would be. It is hard and at the end of the day can be overwhelming with all the things we are learning and still need to learn. However, we are in Israel. We believe in being here and hopefully will eventually learn how to live here like sane people. And, even if Mimi and I go totally crazy the kids seem to be very very happy. That is all for now. 

Yizti makes friends, Tremping with Sruli, Jerusalem with Goldie and Sarala's Screaming

First, I want to thank everyone for the feedback on this blog. I hope I did not sound too incoherent since the lack of sleep before leaving Hollywood and the excitement of getting set up here in Israel does not make for the best of clear thinking. For those interested in where this idea to write about Israel came from, the answer is a book written by Laura Ben David called Moving Up. Laura wrote a book based on her family's Aliyah experiences in 2002. I highly recommend that book for anyone out there even remotely considering making Aliyah. While I have no plans for writing a book, upon landing in Israel and seeing the impact it has had so quickly on everyone I felt I did not want to go to bed that night without documenting some of my thoughts. 


So, we are now 3 days into our new lives as Israeli's. The sound of that still makes me smile and laugh a little since I am the last person in the world who would fit into my own pre-conceived notions of what an Israeli really is. What is a modern day Israeli and where does this fit into my family's universe? To try and answer that question I want to relay three episodes with our kids that I think gives a glimpse into what it means to be Israeli. 1. Yitzi - On the top 5 list of why to move to Israel for us was so that all of our kids and most of all Yitzi could live as a proud Jew, in a Jewish land and have close friends. We also wanted him to have a first class Jewish education while at the same time learning skills that will make him competitive in today's global economy. So, tonight over dinner Yitzi had two new friends over. These were kids who's father made it a point in Shul to inquire as to who I was, the ages of my kids and then go out of his way to introduce his kids to Yitzi, take them to play baseball and then for slurpee. Now there are a lot of slurpees where we came from. BUT BASEBALL AND YITZI? No way! A typical "play date" would involve 3 kids sitting in a room all glued to video games. No talking, no laughing and certainly NO EXERCISE. So, to say that Mimi and I were excited that he is playing outside with good kids is an understatement. 


As to the education here, I know for a fact that I am comfortable that Yizti will receive a very good Torah education. But as for learning global skills?? So let me take you to a conversation I had with one of his friends this evening. ME: So what do you like about living in this part of Efrat? FRIEND: (Name Changed to protect identity of under aged child) Well, I like Efrat because I feel it is a very Green City. ME: Green?? You mean there are a lot of trees and grass and stuff? FRIEND: No, they recycle and things. 


I think that is a very interesting encounter to have with an 11-year- old. Not one that I have ever once had with any friend Yizti has ever brought home before. Very encouraging and I think it speaks not only to the type of parenting that goes on here but also to something the schools must be touching: RESPONSIBILITY. 

2. Tremping with Sruli - 

To tremp is Hebrew slang for hitchhike, but English speakers in Israel will still say tremp instead of saying hitchike in English conversations. I am not someone who has a lot of patience. I am also someone who is not accustomed to traveling in style,  via bus. So, if I am going to go somewhere by bus the bus better be there when it says it is going to be there. As it turns out the 44 bus which runs inside of Efrat is a fairly new route and it still does not run as "regular" as the other buses. My younger son Sruli is a lot more into Thomas the Train than Egged the Bus but after a little convincing he was ready to take a ride with me to the local municipality to pick up some info on the community. After about an hour of sitting out at the bus stop in the heat I got fed up and decided to flag down the next car I saw and ask for a ride to the place we were going. Sure enough it worked and within 5 min we were at the pizza shop getting a slurpee and then onto the municipality. So, lesson learned???? NEVER WAIT AN HOUR FOR A BUS WHEN YOU HAVE PEOPLE WILLING TO GIVE YOU A RIDE. FOCUS ON THE DESTINATION NOT ON HOW HARD IT IS T GET THERE. 3. Goldie goes to Jerusalem - Today was a very meaningful experience for me. I took my older daughter Goldie to pick up our Teudot Zechut - Israeli ID cards. What was so meaningful was that she was so excited to go to Jerusalem because Uncle Moishy sings a song about it. So we took two buses to get to the Ramada Renaissance Hotel which was the first hotel I ever stayed in when I came to Israel the first time. The whole way there Godlie made me sing that song to her. So again, in one sense it was hard to get there. On the other hand  I spent over 2 hours singing with my daughter and walking the streets of Jerusalem. That is a very powerful idea to me. 4. Sarah - as I was walking back from Shul last night I ran into two couples who lived in the building we are renting in. Sarah has had the worst case of jet lag and our nights have been filled with the sweet melody of Sarah crying or rather screaming. I jokingly asked the couples if my daughter had kept them up. They laughed and said they honestly thought something was wrong. I was a little worried that they were mad but they then offered to come over and baby sit since they have many grandchildren and if Mimi and I need to just take a walk they would come over.  So what is the point I am trying to make here? I think it is that my initial thoughts on society here are that people here are not about the process, they are about the results. They are not about wasting time trying to figure out what is important. They already know, and the rest is just details of how to get to the destination. Welcome to Israel!! Anyway, I hope this has interested some people and I look forward to your feedback.

Day 1- Departure and Arrival

The word Departure is defined as "divergence or deviation, as from a standard, rule, etc." (Dictionary.com") Arrival is defined as "the reaching or attainment of any object or condition" (Dictionary.com). On most days I would never dwell on such simple sounding words. However, today I made Aliyah with my wife Mimi and kids Yitzi, Sruli, Goldie and Sarah. Today was no ordinary day. We departed South Florida, our home since marriage and mine personally since birth and moved to our Holy Land of Israel. Specifically we moved from Hollywood, Fl to Efrat, Israel. We moved with the assistance of Nefesh B'Nefesh and The Jewish Agency. After almost 7 years of talking about moving to Israel and then not not thinking it ever possible we arrived this morning after a long journey at Ben Gurion Airport. I am not a sappy kind of person but the feeling of walking off of that plane with my family is one that although I will try to put in words, I know can never be described but must be experienced. To put it as simply as I can it felt like moving a big army with supply lines of diapers and bottles, pajamas, extra clothes, car seats etc.; and even when  we saw it was possible, then realizing that we had finally made it, we had stepped off the plane as Israelis!  We then  walked into the open arms of many people who we have never seen or met before but that could not wait to hug, kiss, carry something or wheel my kids stroller. The emotions of these guests who woke up early in the morning to come to the airport to greet people and welcome them home to Israel were very real and tangible. 

A lot of people joke around about the Israeli bureaucracy and having to wait around to get things done. I want to address that issue because if today was an example of Israeli bureaucracy I think we can cope. Upon concluding the welcoming ceremony one member from each family had to go to the Ministry of Absorption office in the airport to get something called a Teudot Oleh and register for Health Insurance. So in other words the very first official thing the State of Israel is concerned about is 1. Making sure we as new immigrants get tax breaks and 2. Making sure we have health insurance. To me that speaks to the heart of the place we just landed in today. 

 Mimi stayed down stairs with the kids while I went upstairs to the office. We all were welcomed by the head of the department and told how things would work. There were a list of names on the wall of each office. Find your name and wait to be called. I figured that since I saw my name first that meant I would be the first called. It turned out that I was the last. It took quite a while to get in to see the clerk actually. A few people were called and then re called and some people were not even there. Now, here is the part that I found very interesting. I was sitting in an office with government workers who were processing government paper work. To me that is not the most exciting thing in the world. However, what made me take notice was how concerned the head of the office was that everyone had food and drink. It felt like I was over someone's house on Shabbos and they kept wanted me to eat more. The clerk inquired about my family and how my kids and wife handled the long trip. Later on I met the clerk with my family and introduced him to Mimi and all the kids. He played with them joked around. This was Israeli bureaucracy- a Long wait but with food and a hug. Pretty nice start to being in Israel.