Esther Shira Stepansky takes us on a humorous adventure in the modern day land of Chelm as we look at some of the challenges of making aliyah and finding work in Israel. Making aliyah is supposed to be the fulfillment of my of your Jewish identity, so why does Israel make it so difficult?
When do I stop being considered new? Probably never. Our cousin Yossi, the tour guide says that to be considered old in Israel,something has to be at least 200 years old.
In today’s world, no one can know everything. Expertise is a relative term. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. When I walk into some people’s office I am the computer & internet guru. In other offices, I am the worker bee and others still, the new kid on the block.
Having lived in NY for a number of years where the closest thing to a moose is some animal that escaped from the Central Park Zoo, worrying about moose vandalizing our motel room seemed rather cute to us, but it was no joke to the motel owners. Here in Israel, my wildlife issues consist of mosquitoes and spiders, but traveling around Israel is a relative breeze,
I know from my Jewish history courses in college that the stereotype of the wandering Jew is not really based on the Jews’ desire to travel as much as out people’s forced travels and relocations, depending on the whims local governments. I, however, love to travel, whether by plane, train or automobile. I really thrive on the excitement of exploring new places and meeting new people. Give me my map & I am on the way!
Although by nature I may not really be shy, I am used to being made fun of as the “nerd”, 4-eyes, Miss Encyclopedia, you name it. My online work has mostly been doing the design and the coding of websites, more than the writing.