Tag Archives: Israel

10 Types of Happy Jews

One of the best things about Judaism, which is a religion, culture and peoplehood, is that there are so many different points of access and connection. I’ve found that what brings one Jew simcha (Jewish joy) may not light up his Jewish friend.

Here are ten different types of happy Jews (just in time for Purim!). Which one or two types would you categorize yourself as? I’m #4 and #5. Please note: of course an individual Jew can feel happiness from, and identify with, multiple aspects of Judaism (this is probably ideal, in fact). But most Jews seem to have an area or two that makes them especially happy. Let’s be honest, though, we are all kind of #2 😊

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The Secret to Aliyah and Sukkot

I have an American friend who keeps schlepping his family back and forth between Israel and America (specifically, California). When he’s living in California (as he is now), he’s dreaming about Israel: “I miss living in the Jewish state, where Jewish education is free and you get the holidays off from work. We’re coming back to Israel soon!”

And yet he has already left Israel twice to go live in America for long stints, in large part because he loves his higher earning potential in the motherland.

I’m trying hard to be less judgmental and argumentative, but because he keeps claiming he wants to settle down in Israel and remain here, I am dying to tell him the secret to successful Aliyah…

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Becoming a Rich Jew…

I’m not usually the type to obsess about my financial situation, or to think too much about the things I don’t have. Israelis seem a little less materialistic than people in other Western countries and I am blessed to have a full-time job in high-tech, an apartment in Modi’in, a car, etc.

But I must admit that my recent trip to visit my family and friends in Boston (near Boston, technically) shook me up a little bit.

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Rachel Dolezal and “Aliyah Identity”

When I first heard about Rachel Dolezal, the woman who masqueraded as African-American and seems to have falsely claimed she was the victim of hate crimes, I immediately thought about some of my own identity issues and the way I sometimes misled others after making Aliyah.

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Are You Happy on a Rainy Day?

Rainy days are annoying, right? Who wants to get soaked when going outside or risk driving a car in the lowered visibility of a rainstorm?

Many people view rain as a negative phenomenon, but for our sages, it wasn’t enough to merely appreciate rain. They taught us to actively pray for it. Starting on Thursday evening, the 7th of Cheshvan, Jews in Israel will begin saying, “Grant dew and rain as a blessing” (ותן טל ומטר לברכה) in their daily prayers (Jews in the Diaspora begin saying it on December 4).

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