1. The overwhelming military presence. There are solders everywhere. I'm not talking about solders lording over Arabs because that actually is another surprise I'll address. But it seems like half the youth is in military fatigue, coming back from their bases. One gets a palpable sense of historic anti-Semitism and the violence that came with it just by the site of regular kids armed with rifles and lots of older people with guns on their belts. I'm also surprised by how much it's getting to me. It's quite unnerving and depressing.
2. How integrated a society it is. One hears in the media these charges of apartheid and I have found that to be so far from the truth. Arabs are everywhere, on the same trains, stores, and amusement parks. Nobody bothers them. I also see many Asians, Africans, and Russian gentiles. It is a remarkably mixed society.
3. How trying to be an Israeli isn't working out. By that I mean adopting an Israeli personality with all the informality and impatience that so many of them exhibit. That just isn't me and wasn't how I developed in the USA. But I feel like I fool when I act American as if somehow I'm being a weakling for being polite. It's not a good mix and not fun at all.
I wouldn't call the Israelis rude. They are not insulting. They don't bother you. The problem is the opposite, they ignore you. I think they are all just so beaten down from world hatred that they just are not in a good mood, hardly ever.
I have found that Israelis, while not saying thank you, will say 'bivakasha' or you're welcome if you thank them. That surprises me too given how so many of them are the rest of the time.
4. The beauty of the land. It is quite lovely and not hard to get to, as compared to nature in New York, which is quite buried under highways and factories.
5. The lack of a police presence. In NJ, the cops are everywhere and they are scary. Here I hardly see police and they mostly are worried about terrorism. They are regular sized people and seem halfway normal as compared to American police.
6. The lack of difference in holiness as compared to the USA. I guess to me holiness is more about personal conduct than land or air, so I don't find Israel any holier than any place I have lived with a Jewish community. Overall, it's about the same.
7. The quality of the schools. Not good. You'd expect a Jewish country to have schools that are off the charts. Now I can't say I have sampled the whole country but what I have seen is not positive. I would say that the American chedarim (non-hard core charedi) are much more on the ball.
8. The lack of Zionism. It seems to me the #1 priority of every person in Israel is their smart phones. I supposed this is the case all over the world, but I did expect some Zionist talk here. I probably got this from the oddball American Zionist rabbis that can't shut up about the subject. But I hardly hear anybody talk about the topic in any way here. Even the newspapers don't get into it. Their only topic is terrorism, which is somewhat understandable but very boring.
9. The low standard of living. Exaggeraters like Nefesh b'Nefesh try to give you this picture of luxury apartments, but most of the country is quite beat up, old, run down.There is new housing going up but they are tiny apartments mostly. Certainly, there's running water and electricity. It's not pre-historic. The air isn't filled with smog. This isn't the Congo. But it's another world from the USA or Western Europe.
10. The loneliness. I had been lead to picture tight knit communities of idealists. I haven't seen any of those yet. People are as isolated and busy and socially dysfunctional as they are in New York. It's quite a lonely experience, even being with one's "people".
11. That you don't just pick up Hebrew. I can't say this is truly a surprise, because the idea always seemed insane to me. But I heard it stated so many times that I felt compelled to trust it. The truth is you don't just pick it up, you have to study it.
12. That Israelis are not expert in Hebrew. Again the Zionist rabbis of America gave me the wrong impression. Most know little grammar and break all kinds of rules. This makes trying to speak it less scary.
13. How much I miss and appreciate the USA. I thought I'd never go back. Now I'm thinking, what a civilized place.
2. How integrated a society it is. One hears in the media these charges of apartheid and I have found that to be so far from the truth. Arabs are everywhere, on the same trains, stores, and amusement parks. Nobody bothers them. I also see many Asians, Africans, and Russian gentiles. It is a remarkably mixed society.
3. How trying to be an Israeli isn't working out. By that I mean adopting an Israeli personality with all the informality and impatience that so many of them exhibit. That just isn't me and wasn't how I developed in the USA. But I feel like I fool when I act American as if somehow I'm being a weakling for being polite. It's not a good mix and not fun at all.
I wouldn't call the Israelis rude. They are not insulting. They don't bother you. The problem is the opposite, they ignore you. I think they are all just so beaten down from world hatred that they just are not in a good mood, hardly ever.
I have found that Israelis, while not saying thank you, will say 'bivakasha' or you're welcome if you thank them. That surprises me too given how so many of them are the rest of the time.
4. The beauty of the land. It is quite lovely and not hard to get to, as compared to nature in New York, which is quite buried under highways and factories.
5. The lack of a police presence. In NJ, the cops are everywhere and they are scary. Here I hardly see police and they mostly are worried about terrorism. They are regular sized people and seem halfway normal as compared to American police.
6. The lack of difference in holiness as compared to the USA. I guess to me holiness is more about personal conduct than land or air, so I don't find Israel any holier than any place I have lived with a Jewish community. Overall, it's about the same.
7. The quality of the schools. Not good. You'd expect a Jewish country to have schools that are off the charts. Now I can't say I have sampled the whole country but what I have seen is not positive. I would say that the American chedarim (non-hard core charedi) are much more on the ball.
8. The lack of Zionism. It seems to me the #1 priority of every person in Israel is their smart phones. I supposed this is the case all over the world, but I did expect some Zionist talk here. I probably got this from the oddball American Zionist rabbis that can't shut up about the subject. But I hardly hear anybody talk about the topic in any way here. Even the newspapers don't get into it. Their only topic is terrorism, which is somewhat understandable but very boring.
9. The low standard of living. Exaggeraters like Nefesh b'Nefesh try to give you this picture of luxury apartments, but most of the country is quite beat up, old, run down.There is new housing going up but they are tiny apartments mostly. Certainly, there's running water and electricity. It's not pre-historic. The air isn't filled with smog. This isn't the Congo. But it's another world from the USA or Western Europe.
10. The loneliness. I had been lead to picture tight knit communities of idealists. I haven't seen any of those yet. People are as isolated and busy and socially dysfunctional as they are in New York. It's quite a lonely experience, even being with one's "people".
11. That you don't just pick up Hebrew. I can't say this is truly a surprise, because the idea always seemed insane to me. But I heard it stated so many times that I felt compelled to trust it. The truth is you don't just pick it up, you have to study it.
12. That Israelis are not expert in Hebrew. Again the Zionist rabbis of America gave me the wrong impression. Most know little grammar and break all kinds of rules. This makes trying to speak it less scary.
13. How much I miss and appreciate the USA. I thought I'd never go back. Now I'm thinking, what a civilized place.
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