The Old Country

Emigrating Israelis – Point/Counterpoint

December 8, 2011

The discussion of Israelis overseas was a topic that just wouldn’t go away this past week. First I wrote on the Israelity blog about the video campaign “guilting” expats to come home. Then, as my colleague David Brinn added, the videos were pulled by none other than the prime minister himself. Now there is a [...]

Read the full article →

The Medical System is Broken After All

November 14, 2011

I have often bragged about how great the medical system here is in Israel. There’s no problem with people not being able to get insurance and care is on a very high level. For regular doctor visits, I’ve never had to wait more than a day or two for an appointment, and there are drop [...]

Read the full article →

“Leisure Sundays” Stress Me Out

March 15, 2011

In recent weeks, Israeli Vice Premier Silvan Shalom’s has renewed a campaign to turn Sunday into an official day off in Israel, as with other parts of the world. The Anglo community has embraced the idea. As for me, I’m dead set against it. How could anyone be against Sundays, you might ask? Isn’t that [...]

Read the full article →

My Evening with Ted

August 19, 2010

One of my closest childhood friends flew into town recently for a whirlwind Jewish Federation-sponsored tour of Israel. Ted had a couple of hours free in Jerusalem, so along with my friends David and Shelley Brinn (who had also known Ted back in the day) and Ted’s old girlfriend Evelyn, we met up at a [...]

Read the full article →

Jelly Belly Flop

May 24, 2010

I have to confess up front: I have never been a fan of jelly beans. But after a visit last summer to the very center of jelly bean heaven – the Jelly Belly factory in California, where I saw how the pint-sized multicolored candies are concocted – now I’m totally disgusted. Ironically, if we hadn’t [...]

Read the full article →

Prediction Tradition

January 4, 2010

Growing up, our family had an annual tradition on New Year’s Day. My father, my brother and I would gather around the family room table and put down in writing our predictions for the upcoming year. We would then open the envelope that had been sealed “upon pain of death” from the previous year. Our [...]

Read the full article →

The Paradox of Choice: Consumer Lessons for the Holiday Season

December 22, 2006

In his fascinating and compelling book “The Paradox of Choice,” Barry Schwartz describes the process of buying a pair of jeans. At his local Gap, he tells a saleswoman that his size is 32 waist, 28 length. “Do you want them slim fit, easy fit, relaxed fit, baggy or extra baggy,” the saleswoman replies, then [...]

Read the full article →

Thanksgiving in Israel

November 23, 2006

Every year, just about this time of the month, I get a flurry of emails from friends and colleagues all with pretty much the same message. It goes something like this: “Happy Thanksgiving, that is if you celebrate it over there…er, do you?” So, what do immigrants from the U.S. to Israel do on the [...]

Read the full article →

The Middle Ground

November 9, 2006

There are a few constants in this world: siblings will rival, property taxes will rise, and following a trip to North America, I will wax nostalgic for the “old country.” Our most recent family vacation was no exception. The trip was book-ended by two gala smachot – festive family events that included the bar mitzvah [...]

Read the full article →