The Letter

It's a slow day in blogland, so I'll take this opportunity to write about my aliyah requirements. As I've mentioned before, my grandfather (may he rest in peace) was Jewish, and it's solely because of his ancestry that I'm eligible for aliyah. I'm sure that he would have been both mystified and happy about my desire to make aliyah.

A quick synopsis of our relationship: as a child and young teen, I visited him multiple times every year. Our relationship was tempestuous-- he had very high expectations, and enjoyed putting me to the test, and I had a smart mouth. When I was nearly 16, we had a falling out which lasted about 20 years, when I moved to Florida. Our falling out concerned both of us being extremely stubborn.

I didn't move to Florida because of him, but the positive change in our relationship certainly helped! Once I moved here, I visited him frequently, made his favorite foods (blintzes, lox and bagels-- what else?) and we regained our old relationship. I cherish that time with him, which lasted almost a year before he passed away. I wish he could be here to know about my plans, but still, at least I have the hope that he sees me.

His passing away has complicated my aliyah plans, though. I need proof from a rabbi about my ancestry, and he was the natural person to obtain that. What the agency needs is a letter from a rabbi stating that my grandfather was Jewish and born to a Jewish mother. Since my granddad can't help me, the next people recommended by the agency are his siblings, my great aunt and uncle.

Wow, this is going to be uncomfortable. Who to ask for the letter? I don't think either of them belongs to a temple. I am not positive about my great uncle, but I'm sure that my great aunt doesn't. I don't relish the thought of putting either of them in this position for my sake. My great uncle is a very nice guy, and has been supportive, so I'm trying to get the chutzpah to ask him.

Yeah, I think he's the one to ask. He lives in California, and since I moved from there 5 years ago, we really lost touch. But he has been very helpful of late. Incidently, we had a good conversation last week. I told him I'd been doing some ancestry research recently, and did he know his grandmother's name was Yetta Rosenthal? Yes, he did know, and he suggested I name a daughter after her. Isn't that sweet?

Can't someone else do this for me?? What if I didn't have any relatives, what then? As you can tell, I am really dreading asking for help with obtaining the letter. I can whine all I want, but at some point, this is a bridge I will have to cross.

Wish me luck!

"Hurricane" Ernesto. What a wimp. Looks like Cuba pretty much did him in, so now all Florida is going to get is a whole lot of rain.
I had fun writing the invitation to my not-a-hurricane party, so I'll post it here for your enjoyment. I wish my blogging friends could come! But who wants to fly to Florida during a big rain storm?

Hi All,
I hope you will be able to attend tonight's dinner party, which is now called a big rain party as opposed to a hurricane or tropical storm party!
The event is no longer potluck (unless you would like to bring something, which is always welcome!) Here is the menu:
I have put a brisket of beef in the crock-pot, as well as some carrots, potatoes and onions. There are no side dishes. I have no time for side dishes. You may wish to bring beano. That is up to you.
On our libations menu, I have half a bottle of white wine (thanks to Lynn), and an assortment of reds. Of course, fuzzy navel wine coolers and rum and coke are available by request. As are any number of anxiety medications. (For both women and canines.)
For dessert, we will be having a dark chocolate fondue with almost-ripe bananas and peaches, and very ripe plums. It's the best I could do. We will not be having any cake with the fondue, because let's face it-- who among us wants the extra carbs?
For after-dinner entertainment, we could play "Worst Case Scenario Survival Game", which I have, or Rummikub (Lynn, please bring the Rummikub!)
We look forward to the pleasure of your company!

Again, Bloggers: wish you were here! :)

Odds and Ends

Not a lot to blog about today...
Tomorrow, I'm expecting the Hurricane that Wasn't (Ernesto), so I'll have a few of my friends and their dogs over for a hurricane party. Should be a lot more fun that waiting out the storm by myself!

The Red Cross has now contacted me 7 -- yes, seven times since yesterday to ask me to volunteer during the storm. I am a Red Cross volunteer, and I am trained to serve in several roles. I have worked on the disaster response teams and family service (ie. handing out cash :) I volunteered for a whole month last year to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina), and I'm trained to staff and run a shelter. Oh yes. I must have been either crazy or on drugs to get certified for that. The Red Cross here doesn't have many people who have received all the training and also complied with getting a background check, so voila, I'm in demand.

I really hope they get some more shelter management volunteers quickly! I'm happy to help, but actually running a shelter is no small task. And I have an ethical issue with it, too.

The problem is, the Red Cross does not allow pets into its shelters. And I'm sure you know that definitely rubs me the wrong way. But besides my feelings about it, anyone can just look at how many people refused to leave their homes for safety during Hurrican Katrina (and every other hurricane), and often, people and their pets die in their homes because they have nowhere to go that will accept pets. Last year, I complained to the Red Cross about this, but I don't think they have changed their policy. I believe the National Guard shelters may allow pets (which are kept in their cages in a separate room from the people), but not the Red Cross. It's just dumb. And inconsiderate. So we'll see if I volunteer again. I probably will, but I'll give them a piece of my mind, too!

On to more titillating (hee hee!) news: I think that my gardener made a pass at me yesterday! (What, has he been learning stuff from Desperate Housewives??) I have never had an experience like this with a gardener! I didn't know how to respond! (I mean, my answer was NO, but I still didn't know how to say it. Politely.) I just said "No, thank you anyway! Oh! I had better go take care of my dog. Bye!"
It was an uncomfortable situation. But on the brighter side of things, he did a fantastic job with my gardening yesterday. He's never been so thorough!

I hope you all have a peaceful day. :)

Welcome to my virtual garden :)

This is the virtual Yaakova with my dog, Angel. Apparently I've lost 10 pounds and straightened my hair.
Notice that I no longer go barefoot in my back yard after my recent tetanus shot incident.

Warning: Deep Thoughts Ahead

Something interesting is going on in me.. I have been trying for a long time to figure out what my place would be in Israeli society. I'm not like Jewish people who just automatically fit in; my story isn't that simple. (Then again, whose aliyah story is simple?) That scares me a lot, and yet I feel like this is the path my life should take. It's very important to me to understand the role God has for me in Israel. Otherwise, I will not have the strength to remain, once I get there.

Lately I've been thinking about this, and I realize that it will require being my authentic self. And who I am is a person who is -- for many reasons-- an ardent zionist and a Christian, and I love both parts. I feel like my emerging role is to be something of a bridge to Israel for my Christian friends, to help them keep supporting Israel. That's already a lot of what my life is filled with here, but I guess I'm starting to see my role more clearly.

During the war I was talking with some Christian friends, and we agreed that it is good that the US is so supportive of Israel. They said that they can't imagine this ever changing. I then told them about my desire to make aliyah. Once I explained what that meant, one of them said, "Really?!" Now although he didn't explain his surprise, I can read between the lines. They don't understand why I would do such a thing. They are shocked. But they are extremely open to hearing about it.

I went on to tell them (to their amazement) that I can definitely envision scenarios in which the US might not remain so supportive of Israel, and that the need to have a country that takes responsibility for keeping Jewish people safe is one of the most important reasons for Israel to exist.

I didn't go into more detail, but I wish I had also mentioned some other things, such as:

• In response to the US being so "supportive" of Israel: The US pushed Israel into the whole "land for peace" crap in the first place, and that certainly didn't show support for Israel's safety. (My apologies if you are a fan of that policy, but I think we can agree that it was a flawed plan.)
• In the US, we may feel very badly that the Holocaust happened, and about the (current and past) treatment of Jewish people around the world, but those are just feelings. To the Jewish people who were caught in the middle, these same issues can be (and of course were) a matter of life and death. As an example, in the US we teach that "we" (the Allied forces) won WWII. Well, my family didn't win, and I'll just go out on a limb here and say that I definitely don't think anyone at all won WWII. We all lost. But obviously Jews felt this loss, Jews were this loss, whereas most in the US had/have the liberty of just "feeling bad."

I can't go on at the moment, as it's really late here and I need to get some sleep. But in any case, I would like to be able to bridge this gap in understanding that Christians have about Israel. I think I'm a natural person to do that.

(BTW, my thesis in college was entitled "The Future of the US-Israeli Relationship.")

Technology Update

There are big technology goings-on in my little neck of the woods.
First of all, you should know that I'm rather tech-challenged. I'm great with power tools, and I can even do some electrical wiring, but I'm not so confident with modems, routers and the like. So my tech news isn't earth-shattering by many people's standards, but it's big for me!

I just got my digital camera back from repairs, which means that very soon I will have an image enhanced blog! My digital camera is a Panasonic Lumix. Although I like it, I would not recommend that anyone buy one like it, because Panasonic only has ONE repair place in the entire USA! I think this is ridiculous. The local repair shops will fix, and I quote, "any camera besides a Panasonic." That may be an exaggeration on their part, but still...
So $150 later, I have my camera back from the shop. Now if I could only find my battery charger.

Also, I'm buying a new computer! My current system is beyond old. It freezes up all the time. And running the Millennium edition in 2006 is just pathetic. Microsoft has even stopped writing updates for it.

The new, fully loaded "Dude, you're getting a Dell" notebook is going to cost about $2000. I just about fell off my chair when I heard the price. Since I'm very frugal, here's my justification: this will be my second computer purchase EVER, so I might as well do it right. I'll get some bells and whistles, like a GPS locator and a "streets and trips" navigational system, which should be a big help in my job. And in real estate, a laptop has become as essential as a cell phone. I also want to be able to travel with it to far-off lands. :)

One unfortunate note is that Dell won't sell a full warranty to anyone in Florida! Gee, I wonder why... It couldn't be the hurricanes or the daily electrical storms, could it??

Quick note: my dog just walked into the room carrying my new umbrella in her mouth. Apparently it's time to buy her some more dog toys! :)

My huge thanks to all of you who commented on yesterday's post.
While it's true that I should slow it down a bit and make firmer aliyah plans, it's also true that if this villa had been in a better location, I would have had no problem putting a deposit on it today and flying over to see it! I mean... it could have been great.
I'll keep looking. And planning.

HELP!

Someone please help me! I found a property online that I'm very interested in, and it's within my price range. But it's in Givat Olga, which is a suburb of Hadera. I think that it's a poor, stigmatized area. Am I correct? Is the area "gentrifying"? It's just such a lovely property! You can see it here:

http://www.remax-israel.com/PubScripts/ListingFull.asp?AgentId=830061006&ListingID=1114&Lang=ENU

Isn't it great?! I could easily entice my mom to come be my interior designer and maybe even relocate, since it's a villa right by the beach. (As long as I buy her a plane ticket, she'll go just about anywhere!) There's room for my pets, a large garden...
It seems too good to be true. Is it??
This would certainly throw my aliyah plans into overdrive. Or perhaps I could rent it out to tenants for a while. So far, I've mainly focused on Netanya and Ra'anana and environs, but who knows?
Please help me! I need input!!

Straw Poll

Hi, All.
Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I've been very busy with real estate transactions. I may not have mentioned before that I just finished a sabbatical year, so I'm not used to working hard any more!
Boy, if I ever had your sympathy, I know it went out the window with that last sentence. To redeem myself, may I just say that had I not taken a year off from the regular grind, I never would have gotten my priorities straight to make the aliyah decision. Like a lot of people, I was so busy being busy that I forgot my deeper purposes in life.
I'm now refreshed and invigorated, which is a very good thing, because I seriously have to make-- I'll say it again-- a LOT of money!! I'm 39 now, and I'm trying to retire in the very near future. I say "retire", but what I really mean is "have enough saved up to not starve in Israel."
Here's the goal-- and I'm sure you'll forgive me if I neglect to state how much I've currently saved: a mere million in cash (not including my primary residence), and I'll be able to live --comfortably, if not extravagantly-- off my investments. I should be able to draw about $70,000 per year from the investments (so says my stockbroker) without tapping into the principal. I think that I can live off that easily, barring some pretty serious devaluation of the dollar or double-digit inflation!
Of course, if by some miracle I should marry and have a family (yes, the clock is booming! Prince Charming had better hurry it up if he's planning on my having babies!), then my funds will be far from enough. Does anyone know a wealthy, single man? Just kidding. With my outspokenness, I only last as a "trophy" for about 1.5 dates, then I get way too real. Tends to turn off the shallow, wealthy guys.
Wow, that was quite an unexpected tangent.
Okay, back to the original reason for tonight's post. I would like to take a "straw poll" to find out very honestly what you readers think of the name Yaakova (for a woman, in Israel). So far, I've been told that:
A. It's not a name, and there is no way to feminize the name Yaakov in Hebrew, and
B. In Israel, many people have stranger names that this, so go for it.

So what do you think? Currently, my first name is a feminization of Jacob, and I'd like to retain that aspect of it. I'm also open to your ideas, whatever they may be.

This and that

For the funniest site I think I've ever seen (as in, I was laughing so hard I just about... well, you know..), go to this link! It's the site's disclaimer, and be sure to click "don't get it" at the bottom. But the entire site is funny.
http://holeinthesheet.org/disclaimer.htm

P.S. Someday I'll learn how to hyperlink!

Have I mentioned lately that commercial real estate is hard? I think that just scratches the surface. But I've never been one to back away from a challenge-- (a cursory look at all my ex-boyfriends would prove that beyond a doubt), so I've continued to plunge into these dark commercial waters where few women have gone before. It really ticks me off that this field is steeped in the "good ol' boy" network, and most of these good ol' boys (with more emphasis on 'old' than 'good') are intent on keeping it a male dominated business. Grrr.
I'll show 'em. I am now working on another commercial deal, but it's just a lease. And just so you know that I have a bit of charity in my heart, I'm also helping a single mom find and purchase a piece of land on which she plans to put a trailer, for herself and 3 kids to live in. It's all about the good deeds. :) But not as many mitzvot as I used to do, because now I have goals!

Speaking of good deeds. What is wrong with me? You know I love animals, but things are getting terribly out of hand. This week, for example, I dog-sat 2 neighbor's dogs. A third neighbor asked me to watch her dog, too, but please! This place is turning into a zoo! I've barely seen my cats all week. (They are hiding in the closet.) A fellow Realtor called me recently and teased, "I hear you're the one to call if I need a good dog-sitter." Gee, thanks! Does the adage "all publicity is good publicity" count here?!

Still sick of the war...

But much more than being sick of the war, I'm sick of the appalling news commentary. They say that laborers who were loading fruit were hit and killed. Innocent civilians, they say.
Welllll, I have a couple of problems with that:

1) Hezballah guerrillas pretend to be civilians, so how does the news really know whether or not they were innocent? (Remember, even a shepherd "innocently" herding his sheep signalled to other Hezballah members.)

2) Who in their right mind would be standing near a truck in the midst of war, when you know the IAF is targeting truck-mounted rocket launchers and trucks full of munitions? It's a war zone, people!

And I'm irritated about something else, too. Mel Gibson. Hollywood had better not let him back into their good graces!!! Look, I'm a Christian. I can understand the need to forgive. But forget? No. Gibson and society as a whole needs to learn about consequences. I wish him the best of luck in exorcising his personal demons, particularly if that means he will conquer his antisemitism. (Though I am skeptical that he will succeed, or even try.) But I sure won't be seeing any more of his movies. Besides encouraging his behavior, I would feel nauseous watching him.
Enough. I'm feeling ill.

So yesterday at around 5 p.m. I had the good fortune to step on a filthy, rusty nail while walking barefoot in my back yard. Great way to begin shabbat, no? It was so deeply embedded that I had to stifle a scream when I pulled, no, yanked it out. Around 1/4 inch deep. I'm such a baby. (Should I not mention my pathetic stuff with a war on? Or does it comfort people to remember the mundane?) Of course I have no idea when I last had a tetanus shot, so after reading about the very unattractive (not to mention deadly) side effects of tetanus, I schlepped myself to "urgent care" this a.m. .. $170 later, I have a lovely new puncture wound, in my *ss. :)
Shavua tov, everyone.

Two sentences that say it all...

I found this on Rafi's blog, www.lifeinisrael.blogspot.com:

If the Arabs put down their weapons today there would be no more violence.
If the Jews put down their weapons today there would be no more Israel.

Well, that's that.

If you've been fasting, I hope that has been going easily. The meaningfulness (did I just coin a new word?) of the fast sure is apparent now.

I'm sick of this war.
And writing that is unforgivable, since I'm not even in the war. People from the North, I am so sorry for what you are enduring. I pray that it's not without effect. What I mean is, I pray that after all this death and destruction on both sides, the IDF manages to truly debilitate Hezballah. That would make it all worth it, so Israel could at least have a little respite on the northern border.
You know I support the IDF. But as much as they are doing, and doing it exceptionally well, you can't deny that Hezballah's tactics of using civilian shields and "shoot and scoot" truck-mounted rocket launchers have been very effective. It's just too disgusting for words. May the name of Nasrallah be forever blotted out. Let's include Ahmedinejad in that too, for good measure. I also pray that the IDF won't have --any? many?-- more casualties as now they have to individually ferret out the rocket launchers, munitions caches, and Hezballah members. It's very dirty work, and the IDF has my huge appreciation for doing it.

So it's 6 a.m. here, and I couldn't sleep, which is why I'm posting at such an unbelievable hour. I am NOT a morning person.
I've been crazy busy at work this past week, which is actually a blessing, because I'm trying to amass some major funds. I'm now working on 3 commercial real estate transactions, which is fairly new for me. Two of them are international purchases, one is a lease, and that is also relatively new for me. It's been a challenging week, and the learning curve has been unbelievably steep.
I usually represent people to buy and sell houses (aka residential real estate) and I've gotten so I can practically do that blindfolded with one hand tied behind my back. (Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but it makes a great visual, doesn't it?)
Anyway, here I am trying my hand at commercial real estate. It's very hard.
A little background may be in order. I have a bachelor's degree in International Studies, and I went to school at the George Washington University in D.C. for about 3 years, until I dropped out and finished up at a state university in California (Hayward). I then got my teaching credential, taught for 5+ years, and realized that being a public school teacher is even less fun and profitable than they tell you. Now there's an understatement! So I left my teaching career behind, got my real estate license, and signed on with Century 21. That was almost 4 years ago. Most of my family members are also real estate licensees or at least R.E. investors, as am I. My grandfather (yes, the Jewish one, obviously) was broker/owner of a large Century 21 franchise in Boca Raton. That's why I decided to go with Century 21; it was already in the family.
Oops! More on my debut into commercial real estate later; I have to get going!
Thanks for tuning in!