I've seen all good people.....
The Fast of Ester has just ended and I am once again nourished. Since one of our daughters, at the last minute invited 16 people over for a seudah on Purim, I decided to try to get this post out before. For those of you wondering, I do not have a costume. Instead I was thinking of walking around with a frustrated look on my face and telling everyone I am an Oleh Chadash.
This is a Joke. A lot of good things happened this week. I finished eight of my nine steps and passed my drivers test ( step nine is getting the license). It was not as bad as I thought it would be. I think I found the car we are going to get but it will take 3 MONTHS for it to arrive. Seems business is booming here. I was also able to speed up my internet, change all my payments from various service providers to a new bank and change the wrong and varied spelling of our name on government documents. All I had to do was ask my wife to take care of. It was easy.
We got to do something very fun this week. The evening started with dinner at what is becoming a top 5 go to place for me, Meat Kitchen. This place started out as not kosher and made the switch last year. The name should tell you the specialty and I must say they are very good at it. I am not getting a free meal for writing this but for my friends who think Meatos is some place special I suggest Meat Kitchen next time you are in Tel Aviv.
After a great meal we went to Menorah Stadium to see the band ARW, It seems when old rock bands break up someone gets the name and the other guys become "former members of". ARW are former members of YES one of my favorites. We last saw them in 1991 and it was a blast. It was nice, not having to think of taking off my Kippah and wild seeing a hasid dance on a chair. It was great paying only $125 for eigth row seats on the floor. Next band coming is The Orchrestra, former members of ELO.
Many people here are obsessed with the rise in antisemitism in the USA. There is a lot of speculation on when American Jews will start coming in droves. I tell them that it is unlikley but a big theme here is to always have hope. Personally I think it takes their mind off of all the stuff going on here. If you want to read a very good artilce on American Anti-Semitism I would like to suggest this one that a friend sent. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/03/08/the-great-anti-semitism-panic-of-2017/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Lastly, I would like to share a story becoming news here that you may not heard about. A Modern Orthodox rabbi who runs a pre-army yeshiva has said that for women, going into the army makes them crazy and when they come out they have lost their Judaism. He was immediately praised by ex felon MK Aryeh Deri for his bravery. This is the same MK who does not think observant boys should go to the army either so it is a wonder he did not ask the rabbi to close his academy all together. Personally I think antisemitism is the better evil to have.
Chag Sameach