The Chassidishe Gatesheader

Here’s a really crazy idea.

How about finding a job and not needing to live off the state money? How about letting the state keep that money so it can be spent on building new hospitals, on supporting elderly survivors of death camps?

What makes you feel entitled to this money?

As for me, the only time I took bituach leumi funds was when I had lost my job (when me and my entire department of ~80 people were made redundant). Aside from that, I never got anything from the state (except for ‘sal klita’ and a little bit of housing benefits as an oleh chadash).

I found a job less than 4 weeks after I came to EY. If I could do so, as a young immigrant without any real job experience, then surely you can do so as well. And if you can’t, then maybe you shouldn’t go there. What gives you the right to move to E”Y and live off other people’s tax money if you’re not even planning to go to work?

I have 3 cats, saved from the streets of Yerushalayim as sick, little kittens (one was really almost dead).

Now, they’re here in the UK, 3 and 4 years old, and completely healthy – and the best, nicest, friendliest cats anyone has ever seen.

If they would be sick or injured, I would spend anything I have to save them. I’d take out loans – I’d do anything possible.

When I took them into the house, I adopted them, I took responsibility for them. I take that seriously. I do not believe that animals exist solely to be used, and just to be disposed of when they are having problems, as some seem to think.

If anyone wants to tell me I’m a heretic, so be it…

That sounds like a very long time to me. I think for me it was more like 6 weeks – don’t remember exactly.

In any case, it depends on how many dates you had of course. Did you meet 3x per week, or 2x per month?

We met, I *think* (not sure), something like 12 times before we decided.

I would vote Amsalem, probably. He represents my opinions best. I do not agree with everything he says (such as the giur issues), but overall I think he’s OK. At least he has real opinions on things, and he looks ahead towards the future.

haifagirl’s solution is the best.

All bugs instantly die from water with a little bit of soap. Roaches can be a bit more problematic though (they can survive being drowned for hours, being put in an oven, or a nuclear bomb).

But with ants and the like, a tiny little bit of soap in a lot of water instantly kills them all. And the best part is soap isn’t nearly as toxic to children and pets as real pest control stuff is.

I thought the Gush Etzion buses are armoured, but the Beitar Illit buses are not (except for a few older ones).

Now, as for Chevron: my rov in Yerushalayim told me not to go there, so I didn’t go. I must admit my hashkafa is a bit different now, but still, I would not go there in an unprotected vehicle. Plain common sense dictates that one should take all possible precautions and avoid all danger.

I second this. What me and my wife do is to go out for a walk once in a while – often on shabbos, for at least an hour or so. When we go for a walk together we talk a lot more than we usually do in the house – where we’re usually just doing our own things.

Everything EY Mom said.

I am a bit afraid of dogs – I don’t really like them. I don’t really trust them.

I do have 3 cats, and they are great.

I nearly got into such a situation as well. Luckily I never reached the bottom the way you did, but to be honest, that is only thanks to my mother in law who was always willing to help me out. (And should the need have arisen, both my mother in law and my parents would have offered us to move in with them if needed.)

Two years ago now, we made the difficult decision to leave Israel and start a new life abroad. I found a job in the UK and we moved there. We were only able to move thanks to huge amounts of financial and material support from my mother in law, my parents, and a friend of me. Now, we are financially independent and paying off our loans. This past summer, we even went on a holiday for the first time in years. We are still paying hundreds of pounds per month (perhaps $500) on debts.

Indeed, others sometimes also seem bewildered by us living in a cheap, small apartment on a street of non-Jews (while most people live in big expensive houses). They don’t understand how that could be, when I have a decent salary. Also there is, I think, a prevailing attitude that anyone who works fulltime must be much better off than those in kollel. Well, in Gateshead, tons of kollel families live in big houses and have cars and go on holidays – I do not have the first and second, and the third is extremely rare.

That said, we are seriously improving. A huge setback was that my wife’s employer has reduced her hours from 20 to 8 per week. We just about finished paying off a loan of $300 monthly, and now we’re getting a setback of $300, so we’re basically stuck at the same level as before instead of having $300 more to spend.

Still, I cannot imagine what would have happened had we stayed in Israel. We did the right thing by moving. It’s not easy – especially for my wife, who really misses her family and cannot go to see them regularly (getting to E”Y from here costs about the same as from NY). For me it’s a lot easier, since my family live in the Netherlands, just across the North Sea – it costs 1/5th of the cost of going to Israel.

As for setbacks, consider my wife had severe trouble with her ankle and had 5 surgeries over the past 4 years, which left her unable to work for long times. Only recently has this been resolved, hopefully permanently.

Anyway, why did I share all this? To show you that there is a way out. I don’t know whether your or her parents can help you, but if it’s possible, I’d suggest moving in with them for a while. Even if you have to fit all of you in a little room and you won’t be able to keep most of your belongings, it’s worth it. You can use the money you save on rent to pay off your debts and improve your situation. That would have been our plan if we had not managed otherwise.

I don’t like this thread either. But the maybe-his-wife and maybe-her-husband talk above was good for a nice laugh here. 🙂

Thank you for letting everyone know.

I’m going to visit my family abroad from 24-30 Dec. Why? Because on 25-26 Dec, the company lets everyone work remotely since there is no public transportation in the UK. Then I take the 27th (Thursday) and 30th (Sunday) off, and am back at work on 31 Dec.

(I work Sunday-Thursday since I work for Israel.)

If abcd12345 still wants to be megayer (convert) after reading through all of this, he’s definitely kosher.

abcd12345: Yep, this is how we Jews usually behave. We can never agree on ANYTHING. 2 Jews, 3 opinions, you know?

Anyway, regarding the topic: it really depends on who you are, what type of frum person you want to become, how much you know…. a lot of factors.

I personally know several people who were megayer and I know one chareidi (Litvishe) rav in Yerushalayim who is involved in these issues a lot. If the mods agree, they could put you in touch with me if you ask them and I could give you his details if relevant.

Haaretz wrote quite a lot about him, you should be able to find it via google.

In every European country, the government subsidizes education in public and religious schools.

And yes, schools have to comply with certain government rules. But in fact, those schools that do not comply not only get no money – they also lose their right to exist.

Which is fine with me, as long as they don’t go too far with their demands.

“01:55 Air France announces there may be disruption of its flights to and from Israel (Haaretz)”

I knew that was going to happen any moment. With rockets falling around Cholon, Bat Yam, Rashlatz and Tel Aviv, what else would you expect? One will start, the rest will follow. By tomorrow morning, we might very well wake up and find that only El Al is still flying to Israel.

There are tons of French girls in Gateshead, especially in the new sem I think (Beis Chaya Rochel). That one is also a bit more ‘modern’ than the old sem, so it might be a bit more pleasant if you’re not from a very frum family.

Sometimes walking around on shabbos I think I’m in France, here in Gateshead. 🙂

Pele Yoetz is an amazing sefer. I just recommended it in another thread, for “which sefer to learn together for couples”.

@akuperma:

Get your GPS coordinates.

Q: What can you with Android that you cannot do with an iPhone?

A: Get your GPS coordinates without a network connection. iPhone doesn’t have offline GPS. Android does. Priceless if you go hiking in areas without cellular coverage.

Wot iz a vinter? Ken yu eat dat?

Seriously – if in Yiddish/German it’s winter and in English it’s winter – why are you writing ‘vinter’? If you ask me, it just looks crum.

I agree with Sam2, Wolfish and PBA – shein, your comments don’t make sense.

Indeed I can quote Wolfish and I am also quite sure of this: “You know, I loved my wife before we married and I love her today.”

I just keep it in a closed plastic bag.

One can use tea biscuits – just put a piece of biscuit in your mouth and leave it there. That’s what I’m doing right now at work. 🙂

Anyway, on erev Y”K, I always have a weird issue of being unable to eat a lot. I eat the same as any other day. I might drink a glass more than usual, but aside from that, I do not eat/drink different from any other day. (And I never collapsed on Y”K).

Also, can a UK accountant find work so easily in the US?

Doesn’t someone who wants to work as an accountant in the US need to have a CPA certification? (If I remember correctly…)