Category Archives: Life in israel
Jerusalem’s downtown shelters: where are they?
Where were you during Israel’s recent emergency drill? Many residents of downtown Jerusalem simply didn’t know where to go. click here for original posting By Amihai Zippor (Jerusalem Post) When a siren recently blared across Israel as part of the Home Front Command’s five-day national drill, downtown Jerusalem didn’t miss a beat. Shops remained open and [...]
Beating Dyslexia: Michael Zarchin’s Amazing Story
click here for original posting by Amihai Zippor – Tel Aviv, Israel (Lubavitch.com) In 1960, when Michael Zarchin was six years old, he had yet to learn to speak normally. He could not read, write, or understand basic math. Psychiatric and medical diagnoses ranged from challenged to autistic, yet his mother believed her son was grappling [...]
Stealing my bike
Sitting in the OU Israel Center’s conference room doing an interview for my Torah Tidbits article I realized clumsily I locked my bicycle around a parking meter in front of the building and didn’t even put the lock through the front tire. Hence, anyone walking by could simply raise the bike over the meter and ride [...]
Bite-size Torah
Not just another Parasha sheet; serious about Torah Tidbits click here for original posting BY Amihai Zippor As Torah Tidbits is about to enter its 18th year, editor-in-chief Phil Chernofsky attempts to explain how his weekly booklet on the parsha, or Torah portion, has impacted its readers. “One of my friends complained to me that when he [...]
State imposed non-conformist conformity, Israeli style
JOB SEARCH: This feels like some bizarre Chasidic story which I hope will have a sweet ending…. CB recently brought home a letter from her Ulpan from the “Ministry of Immigrant Absorption Employment Division Employment Referral Center for Olim” (Yikes that’s long). It said “Are you looking for a job….Do Not let yourselves struggle along all [...]
Remembering Israel's Fallen
click here for original post BY Amihai Zippor Traffic came to a halt and people stood in silence honoring Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror Monday morning as sirens wailed across Israel. Yom Hazikaron, or Israel’s Day of Remembrance is dedicated to remembering the sacrifice of 22,682 soldiers and some 2000 victims of terror. [...]
Job search: The beaten path
Several months ago I was desperately looking for work rarely hearing back from anyone. I networked, trained in web applications, started trying to build websites, and began writing more than I had in years but all my efforts seemed fruitless. Countless resumes went off into cyber oblivion never to be heard from again and I [...]
Learning to fight back: Arab women learning self defense In Jerusalem
click here for original post BY Amihai Zippor (Jerusalem Post) When Abed Salaymeh, the municipality’s coordinator for at-risk youth in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem, heard about a five-week self-defense course for Arab woman, he found the idea extraordinary. With the municipality’s backing already secured, convincing the parents to allow their daughters to participate in the program [...]
The Million dollar life -without the million dollars
Explain this to me: how is it Israelis living on meager salaries have a car, sometimes a home, and often make it a point to vacation despite the financial consequences? Even before the current world economic crisis Israelis dipped heavily into their minus [pronounced 'meenus'] accounts (credit from the banks) to make ends meet. Today [...]
Shlomo Katz: Filling his world
An eventful year has ended with a new album for singer/songwriter Shlomo Katz. click here for original post BY Amihai Zippor For Jerusalem-based Shlomo Katz, this could not have been a more eventful year. Finding a wife, releasing his second solo album, and with a project aimed at archiving the teachings of the late Rabbi [...]