בנשמה

It's a bit crazy, 4 months later, to still be at war and experience life on a day-to-day basis. We have managed, somewhat, to have some sense of routine. And war isn't exactly as it comes off to be in movies...the feelings come and go in waves. The complexity is also felt.  Life in Efrat changed quickly as well with new check points, security cameras and extra patrols. It's almost as if we live in the Truman Show or Big Daddy, but living rights for Jewish people, sadly, worldwide has come to this.  Praying we succeed in doing serious damage in Gaza to dismantle terrorism and restore more years of safety for the country. Pictured above, an art project our 4 year old blissfully created for Israel's Yom Hamishpacha, Family Day. May all the families torn apart on October 7th be reunited.

It has been a while since updating this blog. Usually that's a good sign. Life is busy. Kids in school. We moved from Beit Shemesh to Efrat. Started new lives. Meeting new people. Welcomed the Jewish new year. Pitched up our sukkah. And boom.  Life turned upside down.  We have been through some army operations in Israel but never war. October 7, 2023 was utter confusion and chaos. In the morning, we woke up around 8 am. Father and son went out to services and from the living room, 3 sounds of large booms. Strange. The first thought was, "what did we do, who did we kill to suddenly have rockets out of no where..." Sirens. More booms. Men called up for war. The county's borders were infiltrated. Over 1,400 Israeli civilians murdered. Horror stories that are unacceptable for the 21st century.  The airforce gets into action. Hoards of them. Loud. Every door on the Sabbath and holiday of Simchat torah, a sign of another man driving to the North or South going to fight back

In total, 28 places interviewed at till finding the place that Goldy Locks would say is "just right." There are a variety of work spaces in Israel. Some shared rooms with 4 people packed into it. Others completely remote and from home, but no benefits. The list was pretty specific.  1) Keren Hishtalmut 2) Pension 3) Increased vacation days 4) Sick days paid from the first day 5) Private office (a plus) 6) 10 bis 7) Laptop and cell phone 8) Flexible hours 9) Not 8.5 hour workdays 10) One or more days a week from home 11) Respectful salary 12) Amazing people and honorable place  Luckily, and a blessing, all the above was checked off.

Finally thought we had things together. Bought an apartment, employed in Israel, kids in school. What could possibly rock the boat? Well, these days loyalty and job retention isn't easy - - perhaps even a generational shift that's gotten out of hand. But that's a conversation for another time.  Today we will discuss the unemployment process in Israel and the very fascinating experience that it is.  First, your employer by law must call you in for a shimua. You have every right to hire a lawyer and ask for a document of all the claims. Just understand that a lawyer isn't a magic wand that'll keep you the job. In most cases there's some type of management problem or toxic work environment - - or maybe you simply were not the right fit. Know that you will receive and invoice. The shimua in Israel is supposed to be a fair hearing where the employee can listen to feedback from their employer and then go about to improve themselves. Unfortunately this isn't always

A review not related to Israel but a neighboring country. We decided to take a little breather from Israel and flew to Cyprus for Channukah. And we were reminded of the challenges flying with 4 children. But we managed. Somehow.  We stayed at the Blue Lagoon, a hotel resort that featured an outdoor and indoor pool, spa, jacuzzi, kosher food, synagogue, playroom, Beit midrash, two bedroom suites (capacity for 7 people), and right on the beach - - that didn't really have waves or your typical Tel Aviv beach scene.  We'd rate the resort with 3.5 stars given the kid friendly comfort level. The food was ok (for us it's nice to have any hotel with fresh kosher food but you could tell in regards to scale, that there are places much better in Israel). I guess in that sense we haven't yet experienced true luxury but for the kids if really was comfortable. There wasn't any cable TV so the kids got bored quickly (they didn't learn any Greek, even though we trie

So you will be the Tamar living in Tamar? A lifelong dream of the husband to live in the Gush, and a hesitant wife who as a teenager once looked at this hilltop with caravans and said in her head, "one day, I will live there." Go figure. Dreams do come true. The unfortunate reality of buying now in Israel is that the prices jumped significantly within a year and a half. Prices in central areas of Israel that used to be in the 2.5 to 3 million shekel range, skyrocketed to 4 million plus. For example, about a year and a half ago, we put in an offer on a side-by-side house in the Dagan neighborhood of Efrat. Both parties received the contract, and then the sellers backed out. At the time, the cost for 180 square meters was about 3.1. This was considered still high at the time.  In September of 2022, we saw repeated ads for a new, modern, clean, 4-bedroom apartment in the Tamar community, on a central street asking 3.3 million. We negotiated with the desperate sellers and made de