סע לאט: דרכי לעליה

Sacrifices

2009-02-21T18:04:00.000-08:00

I'm catching up on researching aliyah, being a lawyer, etc. in Israel. I have a lot of it in my email accounts, but I guess it didn't hit me until I printed it all out.

I know that I will be sacrificing a lot by going to school in and living in Israel instead of in America. There are more years to study (though the work is less rigorous), there might be a job to have, I might make much less money than a lawyer in America, and I am not sure who is going to pay for all of this.

The question is what is on the other side of the balance. I've been thinking about what I want in life in terms of my environment, because I don't know what law school will be like and I don't know what it's really like to be a lawyer beyond the little interning that I've done (good thing that I did!). I know that Hebrew makes me happy. I know that bits of Israeli culture make me happy; I especially like that they help teach me Hebrew, so that it's more intellectually stimulating and therefore rewarding. At times, however, this does not feel like a solid enough reason to go. Are these the things that will fill out my life? At the end of the day, will I feel like I'm working to live, and not living to work?

I don't know what will make me happy, and I'm not sure how to move on from here. I want to mark this point of hesitation as I try to figure out what I want in life in a shorter time than I should be. I know I will be figuring this out as I live in Israel, but I still feel like I should be making steps in a direction I am more confident about.

Arguments Against Death

2009-02-18T21:21:00.000-08:00

I really have no idea how to handle "You could get killed!" arguments from my parents. Pointing to the fact that I could get run over by a car tomorrow here, in the United States, or that people live in Israel, every day, or...and it could go on.

Nothing seems to work. I don't know what to do. It's their ultimate argument against me traveling there, even. Their answer is a categorical no, and I am stuck at home.

A Changing American Dream?

2009-02-18T14:04:00.001-08:00

I might be pushing this with an article from a website as esteemed as Yahoo, but I have no doubts that the wars we've been having have at least done some damage to our economy (If you are having trouble understanding what I am saying, then you have missed the tone here).

Perhaps it's not so much important that America's standard of living is not going to do well, but that countries around the world are evening out with it. This is a good sign. It's no argument to convince a co-immigrant mother who seems to have unshakable faith in the American dream (money!), but it's something to keep in mind, at the very least.

"Worst Is Yet to Come:" Americans' Standard of Living Permanently Changed
Posted Feb 17, 2009 12:53pm EST by Aaron Task in Investing, Recession
Related: WMT, WFMI, FDO, ^GSPC, ^DJI, RTH, TGT

There's no question the American consumer is hurting in the face of a burst housing bubble, financial market meltdown and rising unemployment.
But "the worst is yet to come," according to Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, who believes American's standard of living is undergoing a "permanent change" - and not for the better as a result of:
An $8 trillion negative wealth effect from declining home values.
A $10 trillion negative wealth effect from weakened capital markets.
A $14 trillion consumer debt load amid "exploding unemployment", leading to "exploding bankruptcies."
"The average American used to be able to borrow to buy a home, send their kids to a good school [and] buy a car," Davidowitz says. "A lot of that is gone."
Going forward, the veteran retail industry consultant foresees higher savings rate and people trading down in both the goods and services they buy - as well as their aspirations.
The end of rampant consumerism is ultimately a good thing, he says, but the unraveling of an economy built on debt-fueled spending will be painful for years to come.

Source: Yahoo News.
Link (unstable)

Hebrew (Musings)

2009-02-05T17:28:00.000-08:00

So. I decided to expose myself to a lot of Hebrew these past few days. It was exhausting. It made me think my Hebrew absolutely, well, sucks (not as much as some other people's, but definitely not as little as I think it should).

It makes me wonder whether I will be able to handle hearing Hebrew 24/7. It's not as though I don't know I will hear other languages in Israel, but the language I will need to use will be Hebrew. I would feel weird taking a job that has me speak more in English than in Hebrew. Hebrew (and Arabic) are the official languages. It's more than just a label. It is the essence of the country, at least to me, anyway.

I don't know whether it is a bad or a good thing that I am dissatisfied with my Hebrew. I don't know where I'm supposed to be, level-wise. How much will my Hebrew improve in a year? How much will it improve if I live in Israel? Of course, it will improve more, and faster--but not exponentially--but how will I feel in the end? Will Hebrew become something so natural and second-nature, or such a chore in the beginning, that it will seem like an odd reason to make aliyah in the first place? I just don't know.

Universities

2009-01-28T21:41:00.000-08:00

About universities. I am considering studying law in Israel and becoming a lawyer. It looks like litigation, one of the areas (I thought) I was most interested in, isn't as popular in Israel as is corporate law. But I have decided not to worry about that now. I want to apply to several graduate schools (law schools), hopefully with the possibility of doing a combined LLB/LLM program (it still bugs me that I will have a BA).

These are the ones I will need to consider:

Bar-Ilan U.
Tel-Aviv U.
U. of Haifa
U. of J'lem

In case you have nodded off at this point, feel free to vote in my poll, "Would you attend law school in Israel?" I'd love to hear comments, especially to those of you who pick "no." Why not go to law school there?

Other ones (that I'd never heard of, probably because they are schools of law at other colleges. Thank you, Wikipedia) include:

Academic Center of Law & Business, Ramat Gan
College of Management, Rishon Lezion
Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya
Netanya Academic College, Netanya
Ono Academic College, Kiryat Ono
Sha'arei Mishpat, Hod HaSharon

I will definitely focus on the big guys...or might this chart below (from Wikipedia) suggest otherwise? I need to look at the details, because numbers alone do not tell a good (in any sense of the word) story! I think this chart is unlikely to be useful by itself.

Law school	Num. licensed
College of Management	275
Shaarey Mishpat	240
Academic Center of Law & Business in Ramat Gan	213
Tel-Aviv University (TAU)	188
Netanya Academic College Law School	184
Hebrew University (HUJI)	162
Ono Academic College Faculty of Law	154
Haifa University (HAI)	128
Bar Ilan University (BIU)	117
Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya	109
(abroad)	°45
(misc.)	°°2

2009-01-28T18:54:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted here in forever. That's because I was not on top of things last semester.

That's going to change. This blog will store useful information I find online, all relevant to becoming a graduate student in and moving to Israel.

A Good International Trend?

2008-11-23T18:40:00.000-08:00

..From The New York Times:

Much overseas expansion has occurred in the past five years, and even more recently than that for the Middle East and Asia, according to statistics compiled by the National Law Journal, a trade publication.

Link to Article

Business

Lawyers Wanted: Abroad, That Is

By JOHN BRINGARDNER

Published: November 23, 2008

As the economic downturn continues, a growing number of lawyers are starting to look overseas for work.

Reason to Move #33

2008-10-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

School has been and continues to keep me very, very busy.

I do have another reason to move to Israel: all the random festivals.

There's Festigal and Festival haPsanter, which takes place this year from the 12th to the 15th of November.

There's an entire Wikipedia page on all of the festivals:

And those are just the listed ones!

Now, it's not like we don't have festivals in America. There's the Jewish Film Festival. There are Rhubarb Festivals. There are random Vegetarian Festivals...but with the size of the country, it's hard to hear of them and/or go to them. I've been to very few, if any. If I were to live in Israel, I would get much more involved with these awesome events.

Reason to Move #32

2008-10-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I, with my great interest in and love for Israeli music, forgot to mention one more thing that makes me want to move to Israel: Galgalatz, the main radio station. I got hooked up through the Yahoo Widget IL Radio, but there are also ways of doing so online.

Galgalatz is just an awesome radio station. The 'טכנאים, מפיקים, שדרן וכו play American and Israeli music, so I won't get miss American music too much (not that I love it, but anyway). They play oldies and new music. They play absolutely random stuff that is just plain fun to listen to. Some announcers' translations of song titles from English to Hebrew are hilarious ("I just got what it means! [proceeds to translate]." True story. Or "Beloved" (נאהבת) for "She Will be Loved"). I love the news on the hour. I swear I heard a weatherman once with an American accent; I heard another accent another day, too (it sounded like Russian to me). Then there's the driving commercials. What isn't there?

Galgalatz is a reason to go. There's Reshet Gimmel, too, which I like, but it does not reach the hilarity level of Gal-gal-gal-galatz.

Aliyah Resources From the Horse's Mouth

2008-10-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

I found this link earlier, but I didn't mention it until I started printed out all the awesome information it has. Where does this link lead? Why, the Ministry of Absorption, of course!

Here is what it has:

Education
Information Booklet for Immigrant Students
Housing
Military Service
The National Insurance Institute
Guide to Services for the Disabled
Transportation Services in Israel
First Steps
Financial Assistance-Absorption Basket
A Guide to Ulpan Study
Employment Guidance Centers
Guarding Your Health
The Life Cycle
Pensioners
Registration in a Health Fund
Where to Turn
Information on Conversion

This is amazing, even if you could ask for more. In fact, you can: at the end of the booklets, there are forms to request more information. The booklets themselves are in at least two languages, sometimes even more (four or five, even. Any polyglots in the area?)

The Music That Makes Me Want to Go

2008-09-29T20:15:00.001-07:00

(1) Aviv Geffen
(2) Shalom Hanoch

Definitely my top artists. It annoys me that I either cannot get them in the US or I can get them for a very high price (with the exception of Yael Naim, whose album I could get).

Other artists whose work I wish I could easily obtain include:

1. Arik Einstein,
2. Beit haBubot,
3. Ehud Banai,
4. Boaz Banai,
5. Erez Lev Ari,
6. Gali Atari,
7. Kaveret,
8. Mosh ben Ari,
9. Muki,
10. Shabak Sameh,
11. Shay Gabso (yeah, I know...),
12. Shlomi Shaban (no, not Shlomi Shabat. Not Shlomi Saranga),
13. Yehuda Poliker,
14. Yehudit Ravitz,
15. and Monica Sex.

I listen to more artists, but those are my top favorites.

That's at least 17 more reasons to go to Israel.

Deppressed and Miserable?

2008-09-26T18:22:00.001-07:00

Sometimes Israel makes me depressed. Sometimes the music is too depressing, even though I like it. עד שבאת by בית הבובות makes me feel that way (I'm not one hundred percent sure why). It's the way Yehuda Poliker's music makes me feel. It might just be life in general, or the different kind of high-pressure life I might lead in Israel.

Even more than the depression (which suits me...it's better than the nothing I see here), it's the miserableness. It's what I see in old movies, in buildings that are neglected and in dust. It's what I see sometimes when I look at photographs. I can't think of anything specific, but how I feel is important, too. I like it better than what we have here, but I am not sure I like it.

What will solve this problem is obviously going to Israel (which I will take care of sometime this year)...but I wanted to note that it's not all positive.

I Don't Know How I Will Deal with This:

2008-09-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

15 Hurt in Vehicle Attack in Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) -- A driver plowed a BMW into a group of soldiers at a busy intersection near Jerusalem's Old City late Monday, injuring 13 of them before he was shot to death, Israeli police and the rescue service said.
Jerusalem police commander Ilan Franco said a soldier in the group killed the driver.
The driver was not immediately identified, but Franco said he was a Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem who apparently acted alone. Israel TV said the car was registered to a resident of Jabel Mukaber, an Arab village inside the city limits.
It was the third incident in Jerusalem in which vehicles apparently have been used as weapons in recent months. In July, two Palestinians living in Jerusalem carried out separate attacks using heavy construction machinery that killed three people and injured several others. Both attackers were fatally shot by police and soldiers.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak released a statement demanding a speedup of procedures to allow the destruction of homes of Palestinian attackers ''to contribute to deterring potential terrorists.'' Several years ago, an Israeli Supreme Court justice ruled that destroying houses does not deter attackers and the practice was halted.
Ambulances and police units raced to the scene Monday night after the crash about 11 p.m. and quickly carried away the injured.
Police said two of the 13 injured were in serious condition while the others suffered light wounds. Doctors at the hospitals said all were conscious and were being treated.
Israel Radio said the soldiers, from the Artillery Corps, were on a tour of Jerusalem ahead of the Jewish New Year holiday next week.
An Israel Radio reporter described a large group of Jews, most of them ultra-Orthodox, chasing an Arab into the nearby Old City after the incident.
Police said the car rammed into the soldiers waiting at the intersection. Witnesses said the car ended up on the sidewalk near the intersection, which lies along the line between the Jewish and Arab sections of Jerusalem.
Since Israel captured the Arab section of the city in 1967, there are no barriers between the two sides.
Palestinians demand the Arab portion as the capital of the independent state they want to create.
Israel united the city under its rule weeks after the 1967 war, but in recent years some officials have shown a willingness to cede Arab neighborhoods to the Palestinians. However, sharing the city and its holy sites remains one of the toughest issues in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

This sucks. This is the third type of incident I read about this summer. I don't think destroying houses will help. I wish there were a good solution that would make people happy. Even that is not quite right. There's always going to be that minority....

It's not as though I'm not aware that these kinds of things happen. In fact, it's probably going to be one of my parents' biggest worries: the old terrorist attack argument. I am worried about the psychological toll this will have on me. It's not exactly something you "get used to" in the normal sense of the phrase, I think. I don't know what to do about it.

Hmmm....

2008-09-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

Will going to Israel make me like being American more? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Cravings

2008-09-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

I was biting a piece of chocolate* when I realized it wasn't what I wanted. What I crave is something puffy. What I crave is another reason to make aliyah. What I crave is:

Image Courtesy of Wikipedia.

I found Bamba (written in English, but with the picture of the baby) at Star Market a few weeks ago, but I don't this to be some specialty item. I want easy access to it and its peanut buttery goodness.

It's funny how that seems to be a reason for aliyah: easy access to music , to concerts I'm actually interested in going to, and to food that we don't have in easy supply over here. I'm sure it will go the other way (that I will miss what we had in the US when I am in Israel), but I like these products better! If I go, I'll even get the chance to try new flavors of Bamba.

I'm filing this under "why move?" instead of "why move?: other reasons" because I consider this and that big baby a cultural product.

*Normally, I try to eat healthier. I am going to eat a salad tomorrow!

Hebrew

2008-09-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

Since no one reads this, no one remembers this post. As I continue to find more and more negative information about life in Israel (the crazy rush in the supermarket, the antiquated -- from an American's perspective -- shopping system (I personally find this nice. I want to go back in time a little), the strange bank hours and so on and so forth), I find it more and more comforting that I what I like rises above all that. Hebrew will be spoken in Israel, even if English and other languages creep into it (לקונדל, used in a comment by Joe Schmoe Ha'Aretz Commenter #42 and reported on by NPR).

It's something constant, but it seems to be hard to explain to other people. Yehonatan Geffen likes it enough to stay in Israel. I like it enough to go, yet when I tell some people about my idea of moving to Israel, I get "Are you Jewish?" Hebrew just isn't the first thing that comes to mind.

The fact that Israel is a Jewish state -- a reason for people to move -- is nice, will make some things nicer for me (and other things worse, or at least from an American perspective...maybe it won't matter in a few years), and has influence, I think, on the language and behavior of Israelis (that latter is a hypothesis; the former is a fact), but I like language from the secular perspective (this is "secular" aliyah, even though I might be more observant than Jane Schmoe Jew....it's all relative): the way the language works, the fact that few people speak it (well, like Israelis; globally), the connection between Biblical and Modern Hebrew (as an interesting fact), its attempt to adjust to modernity and current events, its ease of being spoken in more quickly than English, its ability to fool naive non-native speakers, and so on.

Doesn't anyone else want to move to Israel mainly for the Hebrew and the culture? If I move, they will definitely tell me I am crazy.

Another Reason To Move

2008-09-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

Hanoch back in the day...(Photo Credit to Ynet)

...is Shalom Hanoch! I absolutely love this guy's music, and I wish it were both more accessible and cheaper (in the US, it can cost around $23 to $25 dollars). He's also great live and I would love to go to his concerts in Israel as often as I want.

Blogs

2008-09-14T08:29:00.001-07:00

I've stumbled upon on so many useful blogs these past few days. I've read so much negative information about the decision to make aliyah, the move, and the life in Israel, but it's been useful. I am especially looking forward to reading The Aliyah Survival Blog, which I've added to my blog list!

I have also been looking at Oleh Girl; My Aliyah Experience; What War Zone; Israelity; Israeli by Day, American by Night; and The Aliyah Connection (an NBN blog with useful resources, it looks like). Sure, most of these are not news to people in the know, but some are new to me and therefore important! I'm looking forward to reading more!

Striking Similarities

2008-09-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

This will be the beginning of the "striking similarities" series. I was watching YouTube videos in Hebrew when I chanced upon a show called עד כאן עם אורי גוטליב . Uri Gottlieb is so similar to John Stewart in acting style, it's scary! Even the kinds of comments he makes are similar. I'm practically watching "The Daily Show"!

Head over to this user's YouTube channel and check out the grey-haired actor! I recommend the Ahmadinejad bit!

Photo credit to: www.allmarketing.co.il

So this means if I move to Israel, "The Daily Show" will not be something I miss. Practically speaking, it says that at least some American culture is "successfully" transported to Israel, therefore making it something I will not miss.

Speaking of Differences...

2008-09-09T20:03:00.000-07:00

Hm...I thought that Israel and America were also different in terms of store size (overall. FYI: I would prefer smaller stores). It seems like there is a new trend developing: smaller stores in America! Will it continue?

The New York Times reports:

September 10, 2008

Miles of Aisles for a Gallon of Milk? Not Here

By ANDREW MARTIN

HARMAR TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Like cars and homes, grocery stores are beginning to shrink.

After years of building bigger stores — many larger than a football field and carrying 60,000 items — retailers are experimenting with radically smaller grocery stores that emphasize prepared meals, fresh produce and grab-and-go drinks.

The idea is to lure time-starved shoppers who want to pick up a few items or a fast meal without wandering long grocery aisles or paying restaurant prices.

Safeway has opened a smaller-format store in Southern California, and Jewel-Osco is building one in Chicago. Wal-Mart plans to open four “Marketside” stores in the Phoenix area this fall, and Whole Foods Market is considering opening smaller stores.

And here in the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh, the grocery chain Giant Eagle opened a Giant Eagle Express last year that is about one-sixth the size of its regular stores. It has gas pumps, wireless Internet and flat-screen televisions in a small cafe, a drive-through pharmacy and an expansive delicatessen that offers sushi, rotisserie chickens and ready-to-heat dinners.

“It’s perfect,” said Dusty McDonald, a 29-year-old bank teller who was buying breakfast sandwiches recently for her co-workers at the Giant Eagle Express. “It’s on my way to work. It only takes me 10 minutes to get in and out.”

The opening of smaller stores upends a long-running trend in the grocery business: building ever-larger stores in the belief that consumers want choice above all. While the largest traditional grocery stores tend to be about 85,000 square feet, some cavernous warehouse-style stores and supercenters are two or three times that size.

Statistics compiled by the Food Marketing Institute show that the average size of a grocery store dipped slightly in 2007 — to a median of 47,500 square feet — after 20 years of steady growth.

The biggest push in such stores is coming from the British retailer Tesco, which made a splashy entry into the United States last fall, opening a 10,000-square-foot Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market in Las Vegas.

Since then, Tesco has opened 72 stores in Nevada, Arizona and Southern California.

Gary Smith, founder of Encore Associates, which advises the food and consumer goods industry, said the smaller stores opened by other chains were “a loud message to Tesco that they are not going to be able to walk in and grab market share.”

Mr. Smith added: “It’s also a way for them to do some testing for if and when Tesco comes to their market. They are better able to counter it.”

Besides Tesco, grocery retailers face competition on multiple fronts. Chains ranging from Target to CVS to dollar stores are selling more groceries, and some small convenience stores — long the domain of warmed-over hot dogs and microwave burritos — are offering higher-quality food.

The big grocery chains are not thinking about closing their larger stores, which have been a success. But they hope to capture new business with the smaller stores, appealing to consumers on days when they do not have time for a long shopping trip.

“The average person goes shopping for 22 minutes,” said Phil Lempert, who edits Supermarketguru.com, a Web site that tracks retail trends. “You can’t see 30,000 or 40,000 products. We are moving into an era when people want less assortment.”

Jim Hertel, managing partner at the firm Willard Bishop, which advises supermarkets, added, “If you’ve got 50 feet of ketchup and what you want is Hunt’s 64-ounce and you can’t find it, people get overwhelmed.”

Of course, small grocery stores have been around forever, and some old-time neighborhood markets still exist. Meanwhile, a handful of specialty retailers have proved that shoppers will flock to smaller stores if they are offered a novel experience.

Trader Joe’s, for one, has thrived by offering a limited selection of high-quality, relatively inexpensive products in quirky stores that are 15,000 square feet or less. Aldi and Save-A-Lot are drawing customers in droves by selling a limited assortment of aggressively discounted products.

What distinguishes the new stores is that they are being built by more traditional retailers, and they emphasize fresh, prepared foods for busy consumers.

Kevin Srigley, a senior vice president at Giant Eagle, whose stores are spread across western Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland, said the express store seeks to provide customers with a “smart stop to save you time on the things you need most,” in addition to offering fresh foods.

He said the idea for the express store came from Tesco stores in Europe — his company has a longstanding relationship with the British retailer — and from research that detailed the varying needs of consumers.

Mr. Srigley said he was pleased with many aspects of the company’s first Giant Eagle Express store, in Harmar Township, like customer reaction to the prepared foods and baked goods. But since the store was meant as a laboratory, he said, Giant Eagle may tweak the concept before opening more of them.

Will customers come to the smaller stores? Analysts said that Tesco’s initial sales fell short of expectations and the company stopped opening new ones for several months this year to assess customer feedback and make adjustments.

Still, a Tesco spokesman, Brendan Wonnacott, said that the company was pleased with the stores’ results and that the number of customers and sales were increasing.

“This is a format we are excited about, that our customers are excited about,” he said.

The Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market in Laguna Hills, Calif., offers row after row of bagged produce and its own line of prepared meals that are either chilled or frozen. Customers shopping there recently said they liked the store, though several said they wished that Tesco carried more British specialties.

“They have the best frozen food I’ve ever tasted,” said Nathan Cromeenes, 35, who lives nearby and longed for English shortbread.

He said he liked not having to choose among 50 varieties of spaghetti sauce. “They just have one, and it’s really good.”

Dana Gurr, a 49-year-old saleswoman in Laguna Hills, was less enthusiastic. She said the store was sterile and the vegetables went bad quickly. “It’s not that fresh, but it is easy,” she said.

The reviews were similarly mixed, though mostly positive, at the Giant Eagle Express outside Pittsburgh.

Peter and Kim Maguire stopped by the store for some last-minute items en route to a camping trip. They ended up buying chips, strawberries, blueberries and hummus.

“We pop in here for little things we forget,” said Ms. Maguire, 39. Her husband, 38, added that the store has “great lunches,” including sushi and burritos.

RoseAnn Zanoli, 68, said the express store was “good when you need them.” While she found some eggs, she said she came up empty when looking for a card for her 50th wedding anniversary. “They don’t carry everything that you need,” she said.

Will Carless contributed reporting from Laguna Hills, Calif.
Permalink

Business

Miles of Aisles for a Gallon of Milk? Not Here

By ANDREW MARTIN

Published: September 10, 2008

After years of building bigger stores, retailers are experimenting with radically smaller grocery stores.

חדשות

2008-08-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

Hopefully, things will turn out. According to the YouTube acct, this report is from January 3, 2008. If not, time to get cracking on that Hebrew!

Report from HOT on 50% cut in ulpan budget, resulting in fewer classes for olim and job cuts for the teachers.

Side-By-Side Stats

2008-07-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

Since I am looking at The World Factbook anyway, I thought I would do a side-by-side comparison. I know that one resource is not enough, but it'll be interesting to compare.

State of Israel (Medinat Israel)

"Age Structure"

0-14 years: 28% (male 1,018,229/female 971,083)
15-64 years: 62.2% (male 2,242,928/female 2,183,688)
65 years and over: 9.8% (male 303,289/female 393,142) (2008 est.)

"Median Age"

total: 28.9 years
male: 28.2 years
female: 29.7 years (2008 est.)

"Life Expectancy at Birth"

total population: 80.61 years
male: 78.54 years
female: 82.79 years (2008 est.)

United States of America

"Age Structure"

0-14 years: 20.1% (male 31,257,108/female 29,889,645)
15-64 years: 67.1% (male 101,825,901/female 102,161,823)
65 years and over: 12.7% (male 16,263,255/female 22,426,914) (2008 est.)

"Median Age"

total: 36.7 years
male: 35.4 years
female: 38.1 years (2008 est.)

"Life Expectancy at Birth"

total population: 78.14 years
male: 75.29 years
female: 81.13 years (2008 est.)

The "Age Structure" looks pretty similar. This does not surprise me.
Israel is a little younger in terms of Median age? Is it the olim or is it people dying earlier? Or something else entirely?
Israelis are supposed to live longer. Is it the army? Do Americans work themselves to death, or eat too much? Or something else?

The stats alone do not give me reason enough to move (as the questions above show, good stats can also mean bad things), but they sure do look nice in an argument!

This study does not purport to be scientific or unbiased. It is happy to know that Israel does not look as bleak as some people might think!

Don't Super-Size Me.

2008-07-28T15:49:00.000-07:00

I think America is way too big for me. Its size -- 9,826,630 sq km, according to The World Factbook -- is too much for me to travel in a lifetime. Don't I want to see my entire country?

Israel, which is not "about half the size of Russia" (WF), at 20,770 sq km (total, according to the same source) might be too small for some. It's more than 400 times smaller than the US! But I like having things nearby. I will like to have the beach a reasonable distance away (without my having to move to a coastal city in the US). Having a smaller country will force me to get to know my country more intimately and to appreciate (or at least laugh at) little things.

I didn't say that a smaller country size will mean fewer job and living opportunities (that's a topic for another entry), but America is too big! And what if I'm not going to take advantage of all the opportunities here anyway?

Another Interesting Resource

2008-07-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

From Forward.com...

The Olim!

If current negotiations bear fruit, the show will be broadcast on an as-yet unnamed national TV network in Israel, probably with Hebrew subtitles, as contestants will mainly speak English. It also will be available worldwide via Internet.

This should be interesting! I hope there will be someone like me.

See? It's Not So Bad....

2008-07-17T17:04:00.000-07:00

According to an article in The Guardian, the US is not doing so well on the "human index." In some respects, Israel is doing better.

Despite spending $230m (£115m) an hour on healthcare, Americans live shorter lives than citizens of almost every other developed country. And while it has the second-highest income per head in the world, the United States ranks 42nd in terms of life expectancy.

The reason?

....about 47 million people, are not covered by health insurance and so have limited access to healthcare.
As a result, the US is ranked 42nd in global life expectancy and 34th in terms of infants surviving to age one. The US infant mortality rate is on a par with that of Croatia, Cuba, Estonia and Poland. If the US could match top-ranked Sweden, about 20,000 more American babies a year would live to their first birthday.

And I am not trying to bash, but it is interesting to note that

[i]n fact, citizens of Israel, Greece, Singapore, Costa Rica, South Korea and every western European and Nordic country save one can expect to live longer than Americans.

The report lists more problems:

The US has a higher percentage of children living in poverty than any of the world's richest countries.
In fact, the report shows that 15% of American children - 10.7 million - live in families with incomes of less than $1,500 per month.
It also reveals 14% of the population - some 40 million Americans - lack the literacy skills to perform simple, everyday tasks such as understanding newspaper articles and instruction manuals.
And while in much of Europe, Canada, Japan and Russia, levels of enrol[l]ment of three and four-year-olds in pre-school are running at about 75%, in the US it is little more than 50%.

That last one, I don't think, is valid. That may indicate another problem altogether. Besides, who says these three or four-year-olds actually learn well, or at all?

The article continues....

The report not only highlights the differences between the US and other countries, it also picks up on the huge discrepancies between states, the country's 436 congressional districts and between ethnic groups.

"The Measure of America reveals huge gaps among some groups in our country to access opportunity and reach their potential," said the report's co-author, Sarah Burd-Sharps. "Some Americans are living anywhere from 30 to 50 years behind others when it comes to issues we all care about: health, education and standard of living.
"For example, the state human development index shows that people in last-ranked Mississippi are living 30 years behind those in first-ranked Connecticut."
Inequality remains stark. The richest fifth of Americans earn on average $168,170 a year, almost 15 times the average of the lowest fifth, who make do with $11,352.
The US is far behind many other countries in the support given to working families, particularly in terms of family leave, sick leave and childcare. The country has no federally mandated maternity leave.
The US also ranks first among the 30 rich countries of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development in terms of the number of people in prison, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the total population.
It has 5% of the world's people but 24% of its prisoners.

Sure, there might be some envy here, and maybe some other problems, but these are interesting data to note....It does make me wonder what is important to value in life. What really matters in a country?

The Movies I Love

2008-07-16T16:49:00.000-07:00

As I wrote in an earlier post, I am not a big movies fan. I watched Israeli movies for Hebrew practice, and ended up being exposed to a different way of conceptualizing the movie. Ends don't have to be tied up nicely (not meaning "happily"); ends don't have to be tied up in the strict sense, either. Both "Meduzot" and "Shnat Efes" are open to interpretations, thanks to their metaphors (which I loved). Note, I am not saying that Israeli movies are better than American movies, but I am glad I discovered a new way to think about movies, and I would love the opportunity to watch more of these films.

Here are my top three favorites, of the movies I have seen (in no particular order):

1. Meduzot ( מדוזות // Jellyfish)

2. ha'Kayitz Shel Avia (הקיץ של אביה // Avia's Summer)

3. Shnat Efes (שנת אפס// Year Zero)

(All images are from Wikipedia)

From NBN: "Aliyah for Dummies"

2008-07-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

"Aliyah for Dummies"

What comes before the flights? What comes before the shippers, the pilot trip and the applications and forms? NBN Director of Pre-Aliyah, Doreet Freedman describes the very first steps when Aliyah is all but a sapling of an idea in our minds.

Here I am, listening to a Nefesh b'Nefesh worker's thoughts on Aliyah on "Radio NBN." Let's see if she has anything useful (to me) to say (I will try to keep an open mind; the "sapling of an idea in our minds" makes me hopeful for something good; the writing on the website -- not so much).

Doreet also studied for a "master's in Israel..."

Doreet ("D") helps people considering aliyah...."If you want to have a successful aliyah, you need to do your homework...."

I agree.

D: The "bureaucratic process...is just part of it...."

D, explaining the process....

Appt. with aliyah shaliach, fill out paperwork (proof of Judaism); "Opening up a tik is free-of-charge"
Download application with tik # from NBN

Who you are, "status issues," essay, references, letters of recommendation
Financial/services (social) aid, verification of financial status

D: re: Pilot trip. "We cannot accept people who have never been to Israel before..."

I know what I need to do!

D: re: community
"Community sketch guide" on the site.

D: "We will help you write a resume..." etc etc.

That sounds good for me, too.

"In Israel, they want to make sure that you're here first...."

Good thing I am and will be a student.

I wish there were more information about students in this "program"....

D: Sal klita calculator online, NBN gives a grant, too.

I will definitely look at the archives....

Hestitation

2008-07-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

I should write about the times I am not sure whether I would like to make aliyah, like this weekend. What about the quality of Israeli education? Of Israeli life? Of my disadvantage of not knowing English? Of living far away from my family?

These are not new, original, and profound thoughts, but they still make me wonder whether I should make aliyah. It's so hard to decide; everyone has their own reasons, or their lack of reasons. I just wish I were more sure. I'm sure that can only be solved by a trip to Israel...

An Admission and Revision

2008-07-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

Ah, after searching far and wide, I have finally found a blog that is a light in all of the unplanned aliyah-making. I have found someone from Bar-Ilan. I have found a former politics major.

I have found Lizrael Update.

Why Language

2008-07-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

איפה הלשון הקדוש

And here's another important thought: if the government goes down the drain, if there is violence, if there is sadness, if Israel tries too hard to pretend to be/make fun of America (hey, I don't care), there will always be Hebrew. There will always be an opportunity to learn Hebrew!

(I also hope learning it will never get tiring...)

And even famous people agree with me (not directly, of course)!

Another Reason....

2008-07-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

...is Israeli libraries?

This is something I definitely need to check out. I love books in Hebrew, but are there enough libraries in Israel to meet my needs? Is there a different kind of loaning system?

Why Not Move: Linguistic Reasons

2008-06-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a simple reason: I am scared my Hebrew will never be good enough.

Easy counterarguments: You never know until you try. Ulpan. It is easier to learn Hebrew when you are surrounded by it all day, and when you go earlier. Also, there will be English!

Easy counter-counterargument: This would involve me actually moving to Israel first.

Why Not Move: Cultural Reasons

2008-06-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

The idea of moving is starting to worry me. Will I fit into Israeli culture, even assuming I had the language skills to discuss it?

More importantly, and here is a question I will definitely want to research: what is American culture? I don't feel like we have much of a culture here, other than "instant" success and hard work. I'm really not into the music, and I like different kinds of books. I'm not into movies, so what's left? What's so great about American culture?

In the spirit of American thinking, I am going to write -- without evidence from respectable sources, I know (all research and thinking done before September is preliminary) -- that American culture is what you make it, and that American culture is itself free from singular labels. For me, American culture is a melting pot (this is not something I like, necessarily). American culture is freedom. It is Bob Dylan and Ernest Hemingway.

It looks like, for me, American culture is something I can still enjoy from abroad. In Israel, I might have the privilege to enjoy something sometimes labeled as "only in Israel."

Master's Degree Programs in Israel

2008-06-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

I had some time to do a little bit of research. Here's what I found, taken directly from the source:

Master’s Degree Programs
Master’s degree programs are designed to provide the student with in-depth knowledge and research capabilities in a particular field. Most of these programs usually extend over a period of two years.

Admission Requirements: The requirements for admission to master’s degree programs at Israeli universities are similar to those at Western universities. Generally, a “B” average is required; however, some departments require a higher average in the student’s major field, while others may conditionally accept students with lower grades. In some cases, special tests (e.g., GRE, GMAT) and/or personal interviews are required. An adequate knowledge of Hebrew for class participation is necessary. An ulpan may be taken prior to the opening of the academic year.

Many departments offer two trends. One requires students to write a master’s thesis and allows them to pursue doctoral studies in the department, while the other does not require a thesis and is designed for students who do not intend to pursue a doctorate in the department.

Undergraduate studies in Israel are highly specialized; therefore, most students who earn their bachelor’s degree abroad are required to take supplementary courses prior to or in conjunction with their regular graduate studies.

I guess it's not too surprising. The last paragraph frustrates me, but I hope it won't be a problem. I have looked some at Bar-Ilan and TA U...

. . .

My mom doesn't seem to be taking anything not related to the plan she has thought out for me, or at least that's what I am making of her comment that I didn't need internships in [Israel-related programs. Privacy.] last year.

And if I Do Stay in the US...

2008-06-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

...I will explore my city more. I will be a tourist in my own city, but in a good way: I will fall in love with my country by getting to know it better.

On Law: Rough Ideas

2008-06-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

Two events that influenced this post: I went to a courthouse (and its library) today. I downloaded and read a re- qualification exam for the Israeli bar (actually not as bad as I thought it would be, given I am educated on Israel-specific terms).

Pros of Law* in Israel (/Cons of Law in US)
1. There will not be 50 states with laws and case studies of their own.
2. There will be fewer "states" and maybe even case studies (Israel is at least a new democracy).
3. Hebrew: I want to love to use it.
4. English: I know it better than the natives do.
5. Life outside of work!

Cons of Law in Israel (/Pros of Law in US)
1. Aramaic (who knew?! There were some Aramaic words on the re-qualification exam).
2. Hebrew: the natives know it better than I do.
3. Opportunities -- will there be more or fewer?

The verdict: I need to do research. I can't even make up my mind without it!

*N.B "Law" here refers to "law," "being a lawyer" and all relevant terms

In Some Ideal World...

2008-06-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

Looking at the Bar-Ilan website scared me today. If only there were a simple "download application here" button...instead there are many people to write to and many programs to consider. There is housing to consider. There is being alone and scared and forgetting to do basic things.

In times like these, I look to my imagination, which takes place on the border of reality and imagination. On the one hand, the path I choose to get to "unreality" is mostly realistic (or at least possible); on the other, the new reality that emerges is nothing like reality. In some ideal world, I would be a singer-songwriter; I would compose and write songs in Hebrew.

I begin in September, upon the discovery that a decade of violin lessons has given me the ability to play guitar, backwards. I take the bus to the recording studio every Friday, with a guitar on my back and a black bag filled with only the essentials: a Hebrew-English dictionary (even though I hate to use it, I need it sometimes), a blank notepad, and a comfortable black pen. I sit down at the piano in the recording studio, glancing nervously at the Israeli businessman/producer who is new enough to have faith in me, but old enough to have some experience. I move my fingers across a few keys with my left hand, and write lyrics with my right; if reporters ever ask me "Which comes first? The music or the lyrics?," I answer "Both."

Despite not having written a poem in Hebrew for the last two months, I manage to write these lyrics, for lack of better words, like magic. The titles I pick are a little too thought-out, but the lyrics are simple and relatable. The music is simple (without the noise that can be added in production), but it develops; it does not quite sound like Aviv Geffen at his best, but it has his spirit. The themes I write about include nostalgia and longing for the nineties, fear of not being accepted in a strange society, longing for love that will not come (a Romeo and Juliet who died even before they met), some anger towards my mother, love that can be found in a new family (which I dedicate to two very special people; it is my only dedication), and a line about hating the television.

My voice is not amazing, but neither is it bad, and it works with the music and the mood I create. The album does not have my name in the title, nor does it have my picture on the cover, or even inside the lyric booklet. I decide to include a note to those who bought the CD -- a little about myself, couched in poetry (this of course happens in a month).

The CD is a hit (not a mega-hit, but still noteworthy); people wonder why an American has decided to produce an album that is entirely in Hebrew (and very well-written, at that). It sparks debates about the nature of Israeli music, both its definition and its form today. It leads to my receipt of two prizes, and even a chance to speak on a talk show. I bring a translator with me to the show, but he falls asleep; I am forced to speak to the interviewer as best I can without his help, before I realize that I don't need him as much as I thought I did (though not as little as I had hoped).

I fly back to the United States on a Saturday night, and get to my dorm slightly jet-lagged. My mom comes to see me, and asks whether I can read all the writing on the prize; I can't. She smirks. I don't like it, but I am too tired to care. I want to produce another album, though it will be a year after something comes out. At least I have proof that I can survive and profit in Israel.

Before long, I find myself living in Israel, more comfortable than I thought I would be, but less comfortable than I had hoped. My minor fame affords me the ability to write some prose, and it too provokes some interesting debate. Yehonatan Geffen eventually invites me too lunch, and we have a great talk (a great portion of which I spend fawning over him); it is imprinted in my memory forever (and made all the better because we somehow manage to avoid the annoying paparazzi, who are even more annoying than American paparazzi). I cherish the white color of the tea cups we drink from and I remember the breeze flowing through his gray hair. We talk some about love, about writing, and about politics.

Life then goes on, somehow, in Israel.

Other Reasons

2008-06-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

Once again, this blog isn't quite turning out the way I thought it would. It will be better-researched once I get to school and consider less "ideological" reasons to go, and just Israel in general. While I originally thought I would focus on the language-related and cultural reasons to go, Israel is too complex for me to make that kind of distinction. Politics, for example, can enter discussions, or everyday life even, often: eg., falafel: whose national dish is it? (though I'd prefer to shut up and eat). I know that is not a strong argument; complex issues are often simplified. More importantly, though, this decision is too big for me to focus on language alone; it will not prepare me for the eventual argument I will have with my mom.

I can't quite explain it, but I get really angry about biased news about Israel. If I were actually in Israel, it would make more sense for me to get angry. I would feel less odd wanting to do something about it, and I would have more credibility if I actually did.

Reason #7: I'm sick of English (some thoughts)

2008-06-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

I was sitting on the train today and saw a relatively old-aged woman reading an "Introduction to Public Health" book. It made me imagine myself as an old person and still reading books in English.

I did not like the thought of that.

Here's what I thought of:

1. English seems like a weaker language to me. Hebrew is simpler than English.
Part of the reason is that Hebrew inflects. "I was dancing and singing" can be said in two "words" (or three). While this can be a disadvantage (no internal grammatical distinction between different past tenses: I was walking, vs. I walked), I'd prefer to lose something here and be able speak more concisely. While it also true that Hebrew can get unwieldy or awkward, it is concise much of the time.

2. English is not connected to the original Bible.

3. Hebrew is easier to speak more quickly in, it seems.
Part of it is Hebrew's ability to inflect.

4. English does not seem as quirky as Hebrew to me. I like quirky.
Part of it is Hebrew's ability to steal from other languages (like English) and part of it is Hebrew's need to adjust to modernity (I've read that many computer terms, for instance, are identical to ones used in English).

5. English is not a challenge for me.
This can be an advantage and a disadvantage, but I'll take it!

6. English does not open as large a world of discovery for me as does Hebrew.

7. I like that fewer people speak Hebrew.
While I'll lose some of the privacy that Hebrew affords me here, it is also true that I cannot use Hebrew to its full extent here. I cannot speak it. I am wondering how much I want that privacy.

8. I want to use Hebrew to its full extent.

. . . the list goes on.

Why Move?: Reason # 6

2008-06-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

I had hoped this blog would be mostly positive, but I can't decide to go to Israel and not also decide to mostly leave America.

There was an article on the "25 Best Heavy Metal Bands" today and it made me wish Aviv Geffen was on it; of course, that feeling didn't really make sense. Aviv's music, which can generally described as Pop/Rock (which is itself a really broad categorization), is described as glam rock, (new) prog rock, post punk rock and others on such sources as Wikipedia. What really matters, though, is the feeling I had that Israeli artists should be included on it.

Israeli music is the kind I listen to, unlike user "craig c," who wrote, "So where is Motley Crue?[] I spent a lot of my youth listening to these bands and Crue was always there!" Unlike this user, I didn't get a chance to grow up listening to a band. I got my music from VH1 and Magic 106.7, which was my mom's favorite station. In my early high school days, and all through high school, my mom didn't let me listen to music (I am not blaming her; while it is also true that I had no time to listen to music, if listening to non-classical music was at least encouraged at home, things would have turned out differently; my mom might have wanted to do so to encourage me to maintain my Hebrew skills, for example). Instead, my youth and teenage years began and are still continuing through college. Israeli music is my new "youth."

I want to go to Israel because I want to read about my youth in the papers. I want lists to include Israeli artists. I don't even mind not knowing the bands, because then I will both enjoy the music and/or learn the language. I didn't know all of the bands on Rob O'Conner's [Yahoo's] list, but I am too sick of English to care. That is a subject for another post.

Why Move? -- Some Reasons

2008-06-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

Because I keep going back and forth on whether or not I actually want to do this, I am going to make a partial list. Sure, it's not all original, but as long as it has meaning for me, it's worth it. It boils down to language, culture, and religious spirit.

Language-related reasons:
1. I want to think, read, write, and speak in Hebrew.
2. I want to go to a concert in Hebrew with ease, especially Aviv Geffen's concerts.
3. I want to buy Israeli music with ease.
4. I want to buy Israeli books with ease.
5. I want to immerse myself in the weird cultural world that is Israel. I will have the chance to discover a brand new world.

Other reasons:
1. I want people to tell me what they think -- none of this fake "and how are you?!" business, no smiles that hide cruel thoughts (it's not like that won't happen in Israel, but it won't be as sugar-covered as it is over here).
2. I want a better sense of community. I believe that at the end of the day, people are people and they will care about themselves, but I believe that there must be a little more community in Israel, or, more accurately, a greater attempt to create one.
3. I want to be in a young country.
4. I want my Judaism to be more "natural" in my country.

On Language

2008-06-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

My mom and I somehow got into a conversation about language and writing. She said that even a person who knows a language very, very well will never write like a native speaker who grew up in his native culture. I can understand what she said, and I even agree with her to some extent, but I believe that I can actually feel languages really well. I can -- and have -- gotten to the point where I do not need to "think" in English in order to write or speak in a foreign language. The words just flow (when I write, anyway).

Even if my mom were correct, and there were no exceptions to her rule, this would only hurt me if I decided to become a writer. I can surely get around in a language and make friends in another country (and no, I am not naively expecting anyone to come to me). If my mom's "rule" were false, there would be fewer immigrants.

I think Hebrew will make life more difficult for me, and I really, really wish my Hebrew were better now, but I will not let that stop me.

It bothers me that my mom, an immigrant, still has an accent, that she doesn't know as many words as I expect to know in Hebrew, and that some people don't understand her (because of her accent, which is actually not that prominent). If I go for graduate school or even later, I will still be younger than she was when she came to America, and will hopefully avoid some of those problems. Yes, I have an ugly American accent, but it is not as prominent as other peoples'. If I do more work, I will know more vocabulary; as a writer (in spirit, not in profession, exactly), I will have an easier time with the language. It will be okay.

Geffen on Hebrew and Israel

2008-06-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

Well, at least one guy has something to say that relates to my idea. In an interview with MOOMA, famous poet Yehonatan Geffen said,

אנחנו עושים אהבה עם זקנה סקסית בת אלפיים בשם העברית. השפה היא הסיבה שאני נשאר
כאן, לא המדינה ולא ראש הממשלה, אומר יהונתן גפן

For those who can’t read this, Geffen said he stayed in Israel because of the language, not the state, and not the prime minister. It makes sense for him, as a writer.

It makes sense for me as a writer, too. I am in no way comparing my writing with Geffen's, but I feel his connection to the language. He values his words. In the introduction to his book אשה יקרה (the book translates it as "Lovely Lady"; I have only begun reading, so I am not sure how accurate that is), Geffen thanks his eraser!

Source: MOOMA /Channel Two News
Article: גשם כבד נפל מזמן
Date: 17/05/2008 23:48

About: Part One

2008-06-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

Type “why make aliyah” into Google. The first link you will come upon (at this “publication”) is “Jacob Richman’s Aliyah Page,” an interesting resource for people considering aliyah. Unfortunately, the “Why Aliyah?” page contains predictable responses for people “moving on up”: fulfilling what they see as the most important commandment given to them by G-d, living a Jewish life, investing in Israel’s future, etc. I do not mean to offend the people who offered these reasons; for them, these were the “pull factors” that brought them across the Atlantic.

But I, like S.Y. Agnon wrote in “In the Heart of the Seas,” am not ready to run in front of the bride and groom to the wedding canopy. I would like to consider other reasons for moving to Israel. Sure, the fact that it will be easier for me to keep kosher or to take vacations on Jewish holidays is attractive, but that alone will not get me there. Another factor is much stronger for me, one that actually did not originate in thoughts about aliyah.

My “connection” (loosely-phrased) to Israel (not “the land” of Israel, but just Israel, a point on a map) began with Hebrew lessons I had taken at a Jewish day school from kindergarten (or first grade; my memory fails me) to eighth grade. I was a little sad to see my lessons end in June 2002, and I even thought about attending a Jewish high school for the Hebrew. I ended up going to a public high school with vague ideas of working on Hebrew in my “spare time.” School work, extracurriculars, and even a meager social life pushed those plans aside.

My love for Hebrew lay dormant at the end of eighth grade until it was finally woken up my freshman year of college. When I was finally given the opportunity to live away from home, I decided to spend some of my time as I wanted — trying to re-teach myself the Hebrew I had forgotten. Access to high-speed internet gave me the chance to listen to Galgalatz (the main Israeli radio station) and to watch videos in Hebrew on YouTube. I don’t remember the details, but somehow I connected the huge impression that was made on me in day school on the day Yitzhak Rabin (then prime minister of Israel) was assassinated, Aviv Geffen’s song, Livkot Lecha (’To Cry for You’; more on this in a later entry), and my general interest (could it be called love then?) in Hebrew.

That led me to discover all of Aviv Geffen’s wonderful music and pushed me to fix up my broken Hebrew. Five years of not taking Hebrew left me with random vocabulary and the ability to read texts without vowels (assuming I knew the words, or at least the root) — not exactly the best tools to enjoy what I thought was excellent writing. I persisted with my focused study of Aviv Geffen’s lyrics, ordering his 1997 collection “Yareah Male” (Full Moon; this contained “Livkot Lecha”), looking up words, and watching YouTube videos online. I didn’t know it then, but not just my love for Aviv Geffen, but also my love for Hebrew, began to grow.

All that YouTubing (as well as some other factors I cannot recall right now) led to the discovery of other great (or at least educational) music. I made YouTube playlists with numerous artists and bands: Arik Einstein, Aviv Geffen, Ehud Banai, Eric Berman, David Broza, Mook E, Sarit Hadad, Ivri Lider, ha’Dag Nahash, Idan Raichel, Boaz Sharabi, Subliminal, Ofra Haza, and much more. I soon put a seemingly unrelated interest in computer customization/Mac Envy to use, downloading a Yahoo Widget that allowed me to stream 22 Israeli radio stations on my computer. By the end of my first year in college, I had listened to enough songs to get me caught up with Israeli culture, both before and after 2002.

This was still not enough to get me to take Hebrew, though; it wasn’t necessary for me to take in college, and I thought I could use my time more effectively. Fate (or something; bear with this common literary transition) would have it differently. We had to attend concentration advising sessions Freshman Year, and I managed to miss my Government advising session. I had to pick something else to explore. Scanning the concentrations online, I found one that I was relatively interested in: [for privacy purposes, let's call it Middle Eastern Studies (MES), which is essentially what it is]. As I talked to professors, advisers, and would-be-MES concentrators, I considered taking Hebrew my sophomore year. Summer would make me more sure of my choice.

Not having gotten a summer internship, I spent my time walking around my area. Without iPod ear buds in my ears, I listened to my surroundings: they were in Hebrew. There were tons of Israelis everywhere! I had no idea where they all came from (I had never heard so many before), but I cared about the language itself too much to find out: I could only partially understand it.

I walked in similar areas for a month, seeing how much Hebrew I could pick up. Although I had tried to resurrect my old vocabulary and build a new one, it was not very useful. If I knew the vocabulary, I could usually understand what was being said, but it was clear that I would need more help.

My summer vacation on the Cape confirmed that idea. I found myself in a house with about a dozen Israelis who had immigrated to the country (ie. Israel) in the seventies from one of the “-stan” countries (again, my memory fails me). They spoke Hebrew. I was able to understand some of it, but I did not have enough confidence to speak with the “patriarch” of the family, so to speak, in Hebrew; even a “Ma Nishma (What’s up)?” did not provoke a response from me. Not with my terrible Hebrew.

Soon enough, it was September, and I found myself taking a full-year introductory-level Hebrew course (I chose that one because I was not confident that I remembered enough Hebrew to take a higher-level). I studied during the year, spent more time listening to music (or thinking about some of Aviv Geffen’s lyrics; I was able to pick up dual-meanings used in one line, for example), and even watched movies to improve my skills. My Hebrew definitely got better, but how good was it, really, and how good could it get?

I paused to evaluate further. I would (and will) continue with Hebrew this September, but what will I do after? I had developed an interest in Yehonatan Geffen (Aviv Geffen’s famous father), his poetry, his songs, and his books (I am currently reading “Isha Yekara,” which is translated as “Lovely Lady”, in Hebrew; only having read a few very good pages, I don’t know how accurate that is yet) this year too: how would I read books in Hebrew — more than I would have access to in the libraries in my area? How would I own those books in a “grand” at-home-library? How would I watch Israeli movies without waiting for them to come out in American theaters (and even then, those are the major ones…)? How would I buy Israeli music without going online every time? I had also started writing poetry in Hebrew and learned that I love “writing” in Hebrew and would like to do it “for real” — ie. with a good vocabularly and a greater ability to express my thoughts; I even went so far as to say that, in some ideal world, I would want to be a singer-songwriter and/or writer in Hebrew (more on this in a later entry).

These line of questions seem silly as I type them. I have plenty of access to reading materials, and if I probably try really, really hard, I can pay high shipping and handling fees to purchase Israeli books I may or may not like. I can just watch major movies; not everything that comes out is worth seeing, after all; besides, I am not a huge fan of movies. I can pay shipping and handling fees for the music I want to order online. I can take Hebrew in graduate school or take some lessons at an ulpan in Israel….No wonder people don’t list such “cultural reasons” as “pull factors.”

But what if I don’t want to do that? What if I want a greater access to books? What if I have to read the book before I buy it? What if I don’t want to pay ridiculous shipping and handling fees? And isn’t it true that no matter how many Hebrew lessons I take, I won’t be able to maintain my skills unless I use the language every day?

If one thinks about it all of these concerns can be summed up as “language skills”: how will I maintain them? Beyond this shallow concern lies my “pull factor”: a love of Hebrew. I watched those movies, not because I like movies, but because I wanted to learn more Hebrew (it turns I would actually like some of these, but that’s a story for another entry). I can express my thoughts more effectively (by most measures) in English, but I wanted to write in Hebrew.

I think I want to be surrounded by Hebrew. I want to go into a store, skim through a book in Hebrew — as easily as I do in English — and then buy it. I want to go to an Aviv Geffen concert in Israel without paying a ton for airplane tickets. I want to write in Hebrew. I want to think and speak in Hebrew with ease. That is what I need Israel for. I don’t have any grand dreams. This isn’t about “living the dream” in most senses of the phrase. I just want Hebrew.

. . .

Before I create any more posts, I want to make clear that this will not obsess about Israel (it will probably only obsess about Mishpahat Geffen). I know every country, and perhaps even ideology, has its problems. This will simply be an attempt to figure out how interested I really am in moving to Israel.

I hope you will join me as a reader, commenter, and/or discussion-participant.