Happy Pesach. We had a great Seder here in the Settler home. As we had a couple of years ago, Mrs. Settler's family joined us from America, and was invited to see all of the benefits of living in Israel on Pesach, including soft matzot, rice on Pesach, and 1 Seder. I say see because, as visitors, they don't get to participate in any of those things while following the Rabbis of the diaspora, but they do get to see close up how Pesach was meant to be, and what they could have if they too move to the Promised Land. The little settlers were in rare form last night singing and asking questions, while we sat around on cushions on the floor, discussing the Exodus, and the origins of our Nation.
Tonight, we counted the first night of the Omer. This commemorates the new grain sacrifice that was given in the Temple, but since the destruction of it 2000 years ago, this time has been marked as a time of mourning over the 24,000 students/soldiers (depending on how you read history) of Rabbi Akiva. So you may ask how could I love a time like this more than any other time of year. The truth is that what happened to the students was a terrible tragedy, but today, this time period includes most of Pesach, spring, as well as the modern holidays of Independence Day, Lag Baomer, and Jerusalem Day. Living where I do, it's easy to see the modern day miracles that brought us as Israelis and Jews to the great place that we are in today. At this time of year, we celebrate our origin as a nation, and our origin as a modern nation. We celebrate the spring, a time of renewal, and we celebrate the renewal of our nationhood and our return to our entire land. It's a time of joy and gives us an opportunity to see how far we've come, and look towards our bright future.
I hope that you can all join us here to be a part of this historic time, as the times of mourning are turned to times of joy, and we follow with the uniting of the Jewish people under the flag of a truly free and prosperous nation, in it's homeland.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Hell Week
I am not referring to the testing week for the Navy SEALS or the pledge week in fraternities, I am referring to something much tougher and more dreaded. I of course am talking about the week before Pesach. Especially here in Israel, where in addition to the OCD approved cleaning, and the normally stocked fridges and pantries are as empty as Walmart during the Daytona 500, we have the added challenge of the schools being on vacation a full 10 days before Pesach. That's right, some sadistic individual in the education department decided that teachers are people too, and they also need to prepare for the holiday. Now imagine the challenge of cleaning a house with 4 little crumb magnets underfoot who need to be fed and entertained. Now before any of you Alpha-parents start with your "just have them help" silliness, I want to remind you that it is not your spouse who put the cookie in the playmobil container to save it for later, or who sticks their half eaten peanut butter chocolate sandwich in their pocket for later. Let's face it, children are the reason we need to bleach literally every surface in the house. Little Red hides Cheerios in her diaper so she can leave a trail of them as she wanders the house just so she won't get lost, there is no way the house will get cleaner with the kids around more.
This is why we have learned our lesson. We now send our kids to one of the half day backyard camps run by the very capable teenagers of the neighborhood. It's a win-win situation. The kids get to go out and play with friends for a few hours, the teenagers do something responsible and stay out of trouble, and the house gets clean and stays calm. I never thought i'd say this, but thank G-D for teenagers, our house may actually be ready for the family invasion later this week.
Please excuse me, I am hungry and there's nothing to eat, I wonder of that cookie is still with the playmobil...
This is why we have learned our lesson. We now send our kids to one of the half day backyard camps run by the very capable teenagers of the neighborhood. It's a win-win situation. The kids get to go out and play with friends for a few hours, the teenagers do something responsible and stay out of trouble, and the house gets clean and stays calm. I never thought i'd say this, but thank G-D for teenagers, our house may actually be ready for the family invasion later this week.
Please excuse me, I am hungry and there's nothing to eat, I wonder of that cookie is still with the playmobil...
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Getting stoned
It happened again, terrorists throw rocks, and children get seriously injured. I say again, because rock throwing on many of our roads is a daily occurrence. The problem is that it is almost never reported, and even if it is reported it is brushed off as "just a rock." Well, before there were guns and bow and arrows, the weapon of choice to kill was a rock. The world's first murder, Cain killing Abel, was committed with a rock, and it's been in constant use ever since. The question I have is when did it stop being viewed as a deadly weapon. As far as I can tell, that only started when it was just the "settler" was targeted by rock throwing terrorists. As soon as it was just the settler that was targeted, the world removed rocks from their database of weapons and replaces it with settler homes. Our own government has it's share of the blame for rock attacks becoming the norm. The first time a Jew was arrested for returning fire on a rock thrower, rather than allowing himself to become another victim, the government legitimized rock throwing as something less than an act of deadly aggression.
This needs to change now. There is no way we will ever convince the world that killing Jews, even if they are nothing more than "settlers," is wrong, but if we could at least convince fellow Jews and Israelis that we bleed red too, maybe we would be able to properly defend ourselves. The Arab knows that there is no real consequence to throwing a rock right now. If he misses or just damages the vehicle without causing anyone bodily harm, it won't make the news, he won't be pursued by the authorities, and certainly his intended target would never dare return fire, out of fear of being jailed for years. That's right, here if you dare defend yourself for potential harm, our weak-willed justice system will pursue you, rather than the true aggressor, the terrorist attacking rock thrower, because you have a gun and he "just" has a rock. If the terrorist rock thrower does manage to cause bodily harm, he will most likely escape unharmed to the nearest Arab village, because our weak government took down nearly all the checkpoints as unrequited "goodwill" to our "peace partner" who will shelter this attacker. The news may or may not report as an afterthought a story of a settler being lightly injured, regardless of the extent of his injuries.
If G-D forbid someone is killed, then security services will probably pursue the murderer. However, even if he is caught, he gets a nice western style fair trial. Once convicted and sent to prison, he is given 3 square meals, regular exersize and prayer space. He has the option of pursuing a degree. And of course, our peace partner pays out a monthly stipend to the family of this courageous freedom fighter.
If we ever want this to change, we need to change a few things. First if all, we must be given the opportunity to properly defend ourselves. As we are taught in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 72a), "if one comes to kill you, rise and kill him." In other words we are not supposed to wait until they strike us to hit them back, by then it's usually too late. Rather the second danger becomes apparent, we are supposed to do what we need to do to protect ourselves.
Second, the government must make the price of any Jewish blood so unbelievably high, that no one will want to pay the price for assaulting any Jew, even a settler. Third, and most importantly, the government must stop differentiating between settlers and everyone else. If the government would enforce the same law equally over both sides of the green line, then the Jew from Tel Aviv and the Jew from Talmon would see each other and treat each other and defend each other as equals.
My prayer is that our leaders lead us into a future that we will all share together, as equals, that the children injured in tonight's mass terror attacks have a complete recovery, and that we don't have the need to pray for more children injured in terror attacks, because we have worked together to create a better safer and greater Israel for all Jews.
This needs to change now. There is no way we will ever convince the world that killing Jews, even if they are nothing more than "settlers," is wrong, but if we could at least convince fellow Jews and Israelis that we bleed red too, maybe we would be able to properly defend ourselves. The Arab knows that there is no real consequence to throwing a rock right now. If he misses or just damages the vehicle without causing anyone bodily harm, it won't make the news, he won't be pursued by the authorities, and certainly his intended target would never dare return fire, out of fear of being jailed for years. That's right, here if you dare defend yourself for potential harm, our weak-willed justice system will pursue you, rather than the true aggressor, the terrorist attacking rock thrower, because you have a gun and he "just" has a rock. If the terrorist rock thrower does manage to cause bodily harm, he will most likely escape unharmed to the nearest Arab village, because our weak government took down nearly all the checkpoints as unrequited "goodwill" to our "peace partner" who will shelter this attacker. The news may or may not report as an afterthought a story of a settler being lightly injured, regardless of the extent of his injuries.
If G-D forbid someone is killed, then security services will probably pursue the murderer. However, even if he is caught, he gets a nice western style fair trial. Once convicted and sent to prison, he is given 3 square meals, regular exersize and prayer space. He has the option of pursuing a degree. And of course, our peace partner pays out a monthly stipend to the family of this courageous freedom fighter.
If we ever want this to change, we need to change a few things. First if all, we must be given the opportunity to properly defend ourselves. As we are taught in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 72a), "if one comes to kill you, rise and kill him." In other words we are not supposed to wait until they strike us to hit them back, by then it's usually too late. Rather the second danger becomes apparent, we are supposed to do what we need to do to protect ourselves.
Second, the government must make the price of any Jewish blood so unbelievably high, that no one will want to pay the price for assaulting any Jew, even a settler. Third, and most importantly, the government must stop differentiating between settlers and everyone else. If the government would enforce the same law equally over both sides of the green line, then the Jew from Tel Aviv and the Jew from Talmon would see each other and treat each other and defend each other as equals.
My prayer is that our leaders lead us into a future that we will all share together, as equals, that the children injured in tonight's mass terror attacks have a complete recovery, and that we don't have the need to pray for more children injured in terror attacks, because we have worked together to create a better safer and greater Israel for all Jews.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The Grass is Always Greener...
I was speaking with a repairman last week who said to me that he appreciates working with Anglo Olim more than native Israelis, and he's so Israeli, I think his grandparents were borne here. He was talking about honesty and how he doesn't have the patience for all the negotiations that go on in this country over everything. I responded to him that I prefer living in a more Israeli environment because there is less of an emphasis on materialism as opposed the the American consumerism that Olim tend to bring with them wherever they go.
I especially hear this from newer Anglo Olim. Every time a group of relatively new olim get together, at some point the discussion goes to "I miss x from America," or "this thing is much harder here than it is back in America." This is one of those things that I really love about living out here, because there are so few of us Olim, we can't sit off in our own clique and commisurate with each other, we need to integrate into the general society. this has helped both our language skills as well as our general outlook on life in Israel.
i always tell people that we moved here so our kids can grow up in Israel, the truth the longer we are here, the more often I find myself saying that we moved here so our kids could be Israeli. Sure we hope some of our American sensibilities stay with the kids, we hope they are able to add to the greater good of Israeli society, but we hope that we all learn from the people who beat us here as well.
I especially hear this from newer Anglo Olim. Every time a group of relatively new olim get together, at some point the discussion goes to "I miss x from America," or "this thing is much harder here than it is back in America." This is one of those things that I really love about living out here, because there are so few of us Olim, we can't sit off in our own clique and commisurate with each other, we need to integrate into the general society. this has helped both our language skills as well as our general outlook on life in Israel.
i always tell people that we moved here so our kids can grow up in Israel, the truth the longer we are here, the more often I find myself saying that we moved here so our kids could be Israeli. Sure we hope some of our American sensibilities stay with the kids, we hope they are able to add to the greater good of Israeli society, but we hope that we all learn from the people who beat us here as well.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Gun-toting Evilsettler
I was asked recently by a friend in The US what my opinion is on guns. I don't feel that is a fair question, it's like asking a man his opinion on meat or cars, so I answered "yes, please." I think he meant to ask about gun control, which is a more complex question and requires a more involved answer, much like asking a man about his opinion on rear wheel drive vs front wheel drive, or the merits and demerits of non-cow meat in sausages.
As I left a meeting the other day, one of the people I met with noticed my gun tucked into my pants and commented,"I didn't know you carried, is that because of where you live?" I find it funny that most people think I live in the "Wild West" just because I live over the green line. I answered that the fact that I live in a settlement has very little bearing on my decision to carry a gun, although it did make it easier to get a gun license. I grew up around guns. My grandfather was a cop, he always carried a gun, had at least one other locked in the house, and had a shotgun in the trunk. He was a great example of responsible gun ownership. I feel safer having guns around rather than not having guns around.
Here in Israel, the laws are very different than they are in the US. While it may seem that the entire country is armed, the fact is that most of the guns you see while walking around are rifles carried by soldiers. Private citizens are basically prohibited from owning any sort of rifle, unless they are in the security services, ie army, police, or municipal first responders (kitat konenut). To be able to own a handgun, you must first show need, then pass a background check, then take a safety course and pass an accuracy test, which you need to renew every few years. Then you receive your license on the specific handgun you applied for. With all of these checks in place, there is very little gun violence in this country. In every school there is at least one armed guard. In my son's school, several of the teachers and administrators are armed as well. All of this makes the school more secure, not less secure. Guns are not any more dangerous than anything else, the danger is irresponsibility. My gun is on me at all times, if it's not, it's locked away. My children have been made to understand that they are never ever allowed to touch a gun. They see guns around, they play soldier like all kids do, but they know to never touch the real thing. That is how kids here are raised. They understand that guns are not toys, and their purpose is only for self defense. As observant Jews, since we can't eat meat that wasn't slaughtered in a very specific way, we don't hunt, so our children don't see guns used recreationally.
With that being said, I like guns, and am not opposed to properly thought out and enforced gun control, as long as it allows for responsible ownership and freedom to carry. I find target shooting relaxing and stress relieving. I respect the craftsmanship of a well designed and built firearm. And I don't understand Jews who adverse to gun-ownership. After 2000 years of persecution, pogroms, and The Holocust, I would think that Jews would be the top buyers of guns for self-defense wherever they could. But surprisingly, I hear more anti-gun sentiment from Jews in the diaspora than anyone else. I guess I have a better understanding of why the Jews had to wander in the desert for 40 years before entering Israel, they needed to grow a generation of leaders who weren't former slaves. They needed people who didn't grow up being told that they had no rights and no ability to defend themselves. The same thing applies today, we will only be able to be a truly strong nation when we raise a generation of leaders who believe in a strong Israel, who didn't grow up ruled by other nations. I hope to raise my children to be among that generation.
As I left a meeting the other day, one of the people I met with noticed my gun tucked into my pants and commented,"I didn't know you carried, is that because of where you live?" I find it funny that most people think I live in the "Wild West" just because I live over the green line. I answered that the fact that I live in a settlement has very little bearing on my decision to carry a gun, although it did make it easier to get a gun license. I grew up around guns. My grandfather was a cop, he always carried a gun, had at least one other locked in the house, and had a shotgun in the trunk. He was a great example of responsible gun ownership. I feel safer having guns around rather than not having guns around.
Here in Israel, the laws are very different than they are in the US. While it may seem that the entire country is armed, the fact is that most of the guns you see while walking around are rifles carried by soldiers. Private citizens are basically prohibited from owning any sort of rifle, unless they are in the security services, ie army, police, or municipal first responders (kitat konenut). To be able to own a handgun, you must first show need, then pass a background check, then take a safety course and pass an accuracy test, which you need to renew every few years. Then you receive your license on the specific handgun you applied for. With all of these checks in place, there is very little gun violence in this country. In every school there is at least one armed guard. In my son's school, several of the teachers and administrators are armed as well. All of this makes the school more secure, not less secure. Guns are not any more dangerous than anything else, the danger is irresponsibility. My gun is on me at all times, if it's not, it's locked away. My children have been made to understand that they are never ever allowed to touch a gun. They see guns around, they play soldier like all kids do, but they know to never touch the real thing. That is how kids here are raised. They understand that guns are not toys, and their purpose is only for self defense. As observant Jews, since we can't eat meat that wasn't slaughtered in a very specific way, we don't hunt, so our children don't see guns used recreationally.
With that being said, I like guns, and am not opposed to properly thought out and enforced gun control, as long as it allows for responsible ownership and freedom to carry. I find target shooting relaxing and stress relieving. I respect the craftsmanship of a well designed and built firearm. And I don't understand Jews who adverse to gun-ownership. After 2000 years of persecution, pogroms, and The Holocust, I would think that Jews would be the top buyers of guns for self-defense wherever they could. But surprisingly, I hear more anti-gun sentiment from Jews in the diaspora than anyone else. I guess I have a better understanding of why the Jews had to wander in the desert for 40 years before entering Israel, they needed to grow a generation of leaders who weren't former slaves. They needed people who didn't grow up being told that they had no rights and no ability to defend themselves. The same thing applies today, we will only be able to be a truly strong nation when we raise a generation of leaders who believe in a strong Israel, who didn't grow up ruled by other nations. I hope to raise my children to be among that generation.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Beep You!
As anyone who knows me is painfully aware, I am not above using the occasional explative. Ok, I I have a worse potty mouth than a sailor who stubbed his toe. So the title of this post is not meant to shelter your sensitive eyes, it is a nod to one of my favorite driving tools, the horn.
I will preface this by saying that I did not learn defensive driving. I learned how to drive from my grandfather, a cop, who's driving philosophy was "driving is a lot like football, you are the ball-carrier, and all the other cars on the road are the defenders. Get around them, and don't let any of them hit you." One of the many things I learned from him, aside from the ability to parallel park any car in any spot, and how to take a curve without breaking, was the proper use of the horn. the horn is a multi-functional tool that can be used to warn the sleeping driver in front of you that the light has turned green, the car rapidly approaching the stop sign that you do not intend on relinquishing your right-of-way in the oncoming intersection, to warn off drivers intent on merging into your lane that they should in fact use their mirror for checking the lane, and not just to check their makeup, and may other driving offenses.
The problem I have found is that here in Israel, people are very reluctant to make use of their horns, almost to the point where I am not sure most people realize that it comes standard, and they won't be charged a service fee for using it. Most drivers here instead opt for using their high beams as an all purpose warning system, whether it be to let you know that their ESP is telling them that the light will soon change to green and you should already be moving into the intersection, that they intend on passing the double trailer in front of them by use of the oncoming traffic lane that you so rudely are using for the purpose of going in the direction it is meant for, or that you are not driving fast enough/slow enough for their personal comfort level. The problem is that high beams, while annoying, do not give the other driver the same jolt like warning that is needed, plus, more importantly, doesn't have the same stress relief properties as a solid horn-honking. You just can't smash down on the high-beam lever with the same gusto that you can lean on the horn. In my opinion this is the biggest problem in driving here. When using the horn you are releasing some of that pent up aggression that you are feeling towards the other dopes who are occupying space on your road, when flashing them with your high-beams, all you are doing the driving equivalent of mumbling under your breath. you are expressing your frustration only internally, and not actually putting it out there in the open where the issue can be resolved. There is no consequence for being flashed by someone else's high beams, so there is no motivation to change anything about the way that you are currently driving. Unlike when someone honks at you, not only is it the automotive equivalent of getting yelled at, but everyone else around you sees that you are getting yelled at, and you feel compelled to modify your inappropriate behavior.
I understand that we can't correct all of the driving problems in this country overnight. there will always be some people who leave their blinkers on for miles (sorry, kilometers) after they have merged, attempt to pass on blind curves, and drive Priuses in the left lane. This is not of country of car affecionados, and serious drivers. Most people here will never know what the difference between supercharged and turbocharged is, what the value of a Z-rated tire is, or that Peugeot owners should have their licenses revoked simply for showing they know nothing about cars at all through the act of purchasing a Peugeot.
While we never be able to solve these problems, maybe if we could take just one small step, if we could get people to honk more, we could make a small but meaningful change on the roads. If people used their horns here more, they would not need to drive as aggressively, because some of their anger and aggression would be channeled out through the horn, thus saving countless lives taken on our roads by over-aggressive drivers. Thank you for listening, now get out of my way.
I will preface this by saying that I did not learn defensive driving. I learned how to drive from my grandfather, a cop, who's driving philosophy was "driving is a lot like football, you are the ball-carrier, and all the other cars on the road are the defenders. Get around them, and don't let any of them hit you." One of the many things I learned from him, aside from the ability to parallel park any car in any spot, and how to take a curve without breaking, was the proper use of the horn. the horn is a multi-functional tool that can be used to warn the sleeping driver in front of you that the light has turned green, the car rapidly approaching the stop sign that you do not intend on relinquishing your right-of-way in the oncoming intersection, to warn off drivers intent on merging into your lane that they should in fact use their mirror for checking the lane, and not just to check their makeup, and may other driving offenses.
The problem I have found is that here in Israel, people are very reluctant to make use of their horns, almost to the point where I am not sure most people realize that it comes standard, and they won't be charged a service fee for using it. Most drivers here instead opt for using their high beams as an all purpose warning system, whether it be to let you know that their ESP is telling them that the light will soon change to green and you should already be moving into the intersection, that they intend on passing the double trailer in front of them by use of the oncoming traffic lane that you so rudely are using for the purpose of going in the direction it is meant for, or that you are not driving fast enough/slow enough for their personal comfort level. The problem is that high beams, while annoying, do not give the other driver the same jolt like warning that is needed, plus, more importantly, doesn't have the same stress relief properties as a solid horn-honking. You just can't smash down on the high-beam lever with the same gusto that you can lean on the horn. In my opinion this is the biggest problem in driving here. When using the horn you are releasing some of that pent up aggression that you are feeling towards the other dopes who are occupying space on your road, when flashing them with your high-beams, all you are doing the driving equivalent of mumbling under your breath. you are expressing your frustration only internally, and not actually putting it out there in the open where the issue can be resolved. There is no consequence for being flashed by someone else's high beams, so there is no motivation to change anything about the way that you are currently driving. Unlike when someone honks at you, not only is it the automotive equivalent of getting yelled at, but everyone else around you sees that you are getting yelled at, and you feel compelled to modify your inappropriate behavior.
I understand that we can't correct all of the driving problems in this country overnight. there will always be some people who leave their blinkers on for miles (sorry, kilometers) after they have merged, attempt to pass on blind curves, and drive Priuses in the left lane. This is not of country of car affecionados, and serious drivers. Most people here will never know what the difference between supercharged and turbocharged is, what the value of a Z-rated tire is, or that Peugeot owners should have their licenses revoked simply for showing they know nothing about cars at all through the act of purchasing a Peugeot.
While we never be able to solve these problems, maybe if we could take just one small step, if we could get people to honk more, we could make a small but meaningful change on the roads. If people used their horns here more, they would not need to drive as aggressively, because some of their anger and aggression would be channeled out through the horn, thus saving countless lives taken on our roads by over-aggressive drivers. Thank you for listening, now get out of my way.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
10 Years!
10 years ago my wife and I celebrated our wedding. 10 years, a lot can happen in 10 years. In 10 years you can, have 4 kids, move halfway across the world, live in 7 different homes, switch jobs, look for new careers, learn anew language (more or less) and hopefully learn to be a bit less self absorbed along the way. It has been a great 10 years, not with out it's trials and tribulations, but that is part of life no matter where you are.
One of the nice things about living in a small community like our's, when a few of our friends heard it was going to be our 10 year anniversary, they insisted on taking our kids so we could go away for a couple of nights by ourselves. The fact that our kids feel comfortable enough with their friends' parents makes it easier on us as well. We don't have to worry that we are putting the kids somewhere just so we could have some time to ourselves as we'll. in fact I don't know who is more excited, us to get away together for the first time since our pilot trip 7 years ago, or the kids. I hope we can make a (not to regular) habit of this.
One of the nice things about living in a small community like our's, when a few of our friends heard it was going to be our 10 year anniversary, they insisted on taking our kids so we could go away for a couple of nights by ourselves. The fact that our kids feel comfortable enough with their friends' parents makes it easier on us as well. We don't have to worry that we are putting the kids somewhere just so we could have some time to ourselves as we'll. in fact I don't know who is more excited, us to get away together for the first time since our pilot trip 7 years ago, or the kids. I hope we can make a (not to regular) habit of this.
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