Shvayg Shosh

Getting to my blog has been really hard lately. I keep looking over the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz and thinking ehhh. My friend Scott works for the Jewish Agency getting new Olim situated there first few months in Israel. He always posts on Facebook his activities: camps for kids just off the plane or " OLIM CHADASHIM @ MEZCAL עולים חדשים @ מזקל because aliyah is supposed to be fun." They meet every Wednesday night for Mexican food and conversation. Every time I see a post, I think, "Wow, I want to go." The young immigrants group has a page on Facebook for people to ask questions, post jobs, look for help. Of course, he's not the only one helping olim find their place in Israel. Dreams of making aliyah are great. Dreams may even get you there, but once you're actually on the land, you need a job. The reality is without a job, making it is hard. When people can't find jobs, they move back to galut. (exile). That's where Brad Bernstein c...

I love that people in Israel care about lone soldiers. Before I met my husband, he was in the Marine corps for almost eight years. One of his biggest complaints was that men with families always got precedent over him. Holiday coming up? He had to work because it was important for the men with families to be with their families. They received more time off because they weren't alone. However, in Israel lone soldier doesn't mean they have to be singled out for being single. Instead, informally they have the opportunity to see their faraway families or connect with Israeli families. Now, the lone solider program has become official. They have opened a center where lone soldiers can connect with each other. Jpost article They have more than a center. They also have an online social network where they can connect to one another. The online community allows them to ask each other questions like " how long can I go home to visit my family for?"

My  My professor posted an article on my class forum: Weaker Nakba bill approved as government legislation . The article talks about legislation fining Arab-Israel groups who commemorate Nakba . He then posed the question: Does the State of Israel have the right to deny its Arab citizen's desire to commemorate the establishment of the State as a catastrophe?   In the article, one of the Arab-Israeli groups stated, "Acknowledging the fact that the establishment of the State of Israel was accompanied by a human tragedy does not challenge Israel's fundamental right to exist," the NGO argued. However, I think that's just plain wrong. At its very core, Nakba commemorates the day of catastrophe. For them, it's really analogous to tisha b'av. The Orthodox Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple and pray for the building of a new Temple just as Arabs mourn the creation of the state of Israel and pray for its eventual destruction.  Nakba isn't simply acknowle...

I came across a post from the Obama meeting. I think it gives a wider perspective then I can ever offer: http://rabbicreditor.blogspot.com/

Anyone else see anything wrong with these models on this website for Israeli army shirts?

HAARTEZ posted an article today on Obama's Monday meeting with Jewish leaders. Obama to Jewish Leaders What are we supposed to take from this meeting? It seems a lot of the same blah blah blah… "Stop building settlements, but don't worry I totally believe you should be a secure state." Then he says, "he wants to help Israel overcome its demographic problem by reaching an agreement on a two-state solution, but that in order to do so, Israel would need "to engage in serious self-reflection." What is this serious self-reflection? I think Mr. Obama needs some serious self-reflection. Although I understand why he doesn't want Israel to build more settlements…why is he really meeting with Jewish leaders? Does Israel really care if he has a good relationship with American Jews? Wouldn't Israel rather have the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Israel on the same page? While certain unnamable sources believe he's out to de...

Hmmm, I wonder about the story behind this article. Do you think he's hiding in Israel because he was planning an attack? Or was he hiding in Israel because it's the last place anyone would look? Either way, this sounds like the start of a thrilling novel.