June 28th, 2008

It is Saturday night in Haifa, a little bit cooler this evening. Pat and I had a very quiet, low key Shabbat which included lovely dinner with friends Friday night, services Saturday morning followed by well deserved 2 hour naps uninterrupted by phone calls! We ended the day with a visit to a dear friend who had just returned to Israel from two weeks in England and Italy visiting her family.

I want to write a little bit on the lighter side tonight. One of the first things we had to do upon arriving at our apartment was buying a new washing machine. One would think this is a simple, relatively uncomplicated task; not necessarily. Two weeks ago we set off on Saturday night, after the stores reopened to price and hopefully buy our new washing machine. The new one would replace one we purchased when we bought our apartment almost ten years ago. That one was "made in Israel" something of which we were very proud at the time. We were limited in model because we have only a small space in our laundry room. We bought a small, top loader, made in Germany, not the top of the line, but reliable. I have finally given up my resistance to buying German products. They are everywhere in this country and Israel has strong ties on many levels with Germany.

The next step in the process was getting the machine delivered. This is handled by a different company. The machine arrived at our apartment on Tuesday, accompanied by strict insructions not to unpack the machine. A technician would call us and make an appointment to install the machine properly. So there it sat from Tuesday until Sunday.

We asked the person who delivered the new machine to take away the old one. In the process the faucet connecting the machine, broke; we could not shut it off and had to shut off the main to the whole apartment in order to avoid a major flood. Now get a plumber who would come speedily to repair the faucet. To our pleasant surprise we found a plumber through the Yellow Pages who came within the hour!

Sunday the technician came and not only installed the machine but insisted that we needed first, a wheeled cart on which the mahine would sit to facilitate moving if necessary; second, a surge protector; and third, a device that would soften the water in the entire apartment system (Haifa has water with heavy mineral content which causes little pebbles to form and block the faucets). All these "extras" were not included in the original "sale" price of the machine.

So, we are now owners and users of a new, updated washing machine!

That is all for tonight. More to follow
Frank

Wednesday, June 25th

We are into our second week here All transition in life have their difficult moments even if there is a certain amount of familiarity with the place and the environment. It makes one wonder when having fun starts. It is quite evident to me that life here in Israel can be really quite challenging, whether it is finding a number in the telephone directory: checking on train schedules, especially when they change the way the telephone directory is arranged or change the name of the familiar train station in Tel Aviv; managing the very uneven sidewalks and tile floors with the neuropathy in my feet; or on a much larger and perhaps more crucial scale, trying to follow and understand the issues that affect life in this country and in the larger middle east.

There are a number of concerns which seem to be on the agenda here. First, the ever present "peace process" which seems to be always talked about and hoped for but hardly makes any movement. Second, there is the issue of the three captured Israeli soldiers. This painful drama began two years ago, brought about the second war with Lebanon, and at this writing, is yet to be resolved. There are continuous talks, petitions, possibilities of some arrangement, and, at the last minute, negotiations come to a standstill. What anguish and heartache the families must feel. They express their pain, anger, and frustration to the government, to the courts and to the media. We hope and pray that we may soon see a favorable end to this situation.
Then we have the very fragile cease fire in Gaza, begun last Thursday, already shaken by the firing of three rockets into Sderot last night. Can Hamas really control the various factions in Gaza? Can we in Israel have some faith and exercise restraint?
Finally there is the issue of the stability of the Olmert government. There is pressure for Mr. Olmert to step aside while he faces personal legal investigation yet the country does not seem to be in the mood or ready for new elections just now. Today was supposed to be the day when the issue of dissolving the government was to come before the Knesset; political maneuvering has postponed this for the moment. We'll watch developments.

This will be an interesting summer, hopefully peaceful. More to come
Frank

Settling In

Our first post. We've been here 10 days now, and it's taken me this long to sit down and start up this blog. The usual complications of getting settled in here have taken up most of our time, visiting friends we haven't seen for two years, checking things out. It feels to me as though no time has passed since I was here in 2006. Everyone is older, but that's about it. Chabad has established a little shul on the corner of our street, and Frank thinks that this accounts for the fact that we see many more religious couples and young people than we have in the past. There are a couple of religious families in our building. (Not that we're not religious, mind you! Here, "religious" means Orthodox.)

I'm only now beginning to read the newspapers. The cease-fire with Hamas has been in effect for a couple of days. I'm quite sure that this is a good thing -- the poor folks in Sderot have been living a nightmare now for two years. People I talk to seem very pessimistic about it "lasting," but I've read two or three commentators who believe that as the threat of attack from Israel is lifted from the Gazans life will improve there and people will want to see the cease-fire continue. Lots of people are disturbed that the cease-fire will give Hamas a chance to gather more arms, but Egypt seems determined to prevent further smuggling. I'm sure that smuggling will happen, but they already have more rifles than shooters. It's interesting to watch.

The cease-fire deal was made without demanding the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who has been a POW in Gaza for two years. Shalit's father is making a very public protest about it. There is also talk of the release of the two POWs in Lebanon, Regev and Goldwasser, but no one knows if they are alive or dead. We pray in shul for the safe return of the three of them every week.

We look forward to updating the blog every few days. I'm taking pictures to post. We'd love to hear from you! Write to pzfisch@nc.rr.com or rabfisch@nc.rr.com.

Pat