My Son the Israeli or Tourist?

My oldest son is spending his college break on a self planned Israel trip, his second. He's an Israeli citizen since his father was born in Israel. In all other ways, he's as American as apple pie.
I'm a typical anxiety ridden Jewish mother. He's back from Sderot, b''h, and I feel more secure with him in Rehovot at my friends' home.

Already in just a few days he's learned valuable lessons about war, terrorism, economic survival, and cabbies that rip you off... all important things to supplement his majors in Political Science, Judaic studies, and his minor in History. Trips like this are just as important to his education as the classroom.

Next phase is the "Yeshiva Tour" so he can decide whether to spend
a year learning in Israel, OR go to law school, OR get an advanced degree in a related field OR get a job OR get married OR whatever comes next in the life of a 21 year old young man.

I wish I had all these options/choices ahead of me, but alas I have to try to keep working to keep my family financially afloat. I have to pay for my kids to get their education and have their chance at traveling to Israel. I hope to send my 15 year old daughter to Israel for her first time this summer. And then there are all those veterinarian bills to pay for my aged dog...

A Break at Last

When you start a new job, you really get no break. Except Jewish "holidays" which, well, lets not go there.. so I finally took a few days off to go to a wedding in Maryland. This is the first of my son's friends to get married, and it was so amazing. We stayed in the Potomac community, and we just loved it and had a great time! A vacation and a simcha

....and now my husband and I are wicked sick with some kind of summer flu...good thing I've earned some sick days. I'm not at work so I have time to blog, and although I don't have a lot of readers I need something to do while recuperating.



I mean how many episodes of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" can you see in one day?



Is that show "good for the Jews" or "bad for the Jews"?



I'm still undecided, but for sure, Noah Feldman's "Orthodox Paradox" was bad, bad, bad for us Modern Orthodoxians!!! I actually wrote to the NY TIMES, and had a chance at being THE female doctor they chose to publish but I was beat out by....a Korean-American convert! Rotten luck, but okay, she deserved her say and I liked her response.

I'm Back, I'm Working

I started working part time in November and this is the first week I'll be working full time!
I do acupuncture at the Veterans Hospital! How great is that????!!!!! I just treat patients and don't have to worry about billing or collections. My pay goes right into my bank. And I really do mitzvah work and serve my country...how's that for a midlife change of career?

More to come, guys....