Inferior vs. Superior Heath Care Systems

Living in America, there is a lot of talk about the heath care systems of the United States. Americans want to believe that since we live in America, we must have the best of everything including the dysfunctional mess we call insurance and health care.Let's talk turkey. I have lived without insurance for more than 11 years in America. Now many of you are saying, "what an irresponsible girl!" Okay, well thanks for that but the reality is, my parents lost their insurance therefore I did when I was 18ish. In college, the university clinic was a joke (no literally... the joke was you go with a broken foot and come out with a band-aid... which really happened to my freshman year roommate who then had to have major foot surgery because of their ineptitude). And after college my jobs didn't really offer insurance but by that point I had learned to live on sleep, chicken soup, and Advil. I think one job did offer it but I never really used it because the process was so complex.Regardless, there were times I looked into purchasing insurance myself only to run away screaming at the premiums... I had, by then, preexisting conditions (like being a female) and it was $150 - $300 a month that I could not afford. Working on a non-profit salary doesn't afford much luxury and insurance was a luxury... some months, so was eating. But there have been times I have bemoaned not having insurance... like when I ended up in the hospital after a car accident and other times. Paying out-of-pocket for an emergency room visit is not my idea of fun and neither is paying for a dentist out-of-pocket. But it seemed to me those times were fewer and it was easier than the monthly fee for not seeing a doctor.I trained myself to not need doctors. Viruses, bugs, pain... all fixed by rest and chicken soup (I am Jewish) but that isn't always the case and I can only wonder if I would be in better health now if I had yearly check ups. True that we over use the system and doctors over prescribe antibiotics but there are cases when they are necessary. There has to be some right balance.Fast forward to Israel. I land here and the program tells us that we should get insurance. I am ambivalent. I mean I have lived the past 11 years without it in America... but a friend who came to the program this summer suggested that with 40 girls living so closely, it would probably be a good idea. So for $1 a day I got insurance for my trip in Israel. Yup. $30 a month. That's it.Then I got sick. General malaise and fever and congestion for about a week or so and I figure, I've got the insurance, why not get checked out? I made the appointment... same day... impressive #1. He saw me at 5:45pm - impressive #2 (when have you ever had a late afternoon appointment?). I got there and waited on 10 minutes to see the doc - impressive #3. There was no nurse intermediary, the doc came and got me and sat right down... no nurse then wait 30 minutes - impressive #4. He listened to my complaints, asked questions, examined me and prescribed treatment within 15 minutes and I did not feel at all short-changed or rushed - impressive #5. He gave me two courses of treatment - one to try that is more mild and antibiotics if that doesn't work - impressive #6. He wrote me a prescription for all of it at once - impressive #7. I left his office and there was NO CO-PAY - impressive #8. I went to the pharmacy in the building and within 5 minutes she pulled the medicine - impressive #9. There was no co-pay or charge for the medicine - impressive #10!In less than an hour (I got there a bit early) I had my new patient paperwork done, seen by a physician, got prescriptions, got them filled and was walking out the building. So fast that my bus transfer was even still valid!I have to say, there is something really nice in not being afraid of the medical system and knowing that when I need to go to the doctor, I can. It only illustrates that America's health care systems is so archaic and crumbling and in desperate need of renovation.

Sukkah in the City

There is a very cool contest going on in NYC right now for Sukkot. A Sukkah City contest.12 unique (to say the least) sukkahs have been erected in Union Square. They are stunning works of architecture. I high recommend that if you are in or near NYC that you visit (and trust me, bring your camera).Otherwise, for the rest of us, we will have to settle for this video from The Forward.Union Square's High-Concept Sukkahs from Jewish Forward on Vimeo.Find more information about the project here - sukkahcity.com

You Shall Live in Booths...

Sukkot in Jerusalem is really a sight to be seen. There are sukkahs on top of sukkahs. Every restaurant has one on the street (why? because men especially must eat all their food in a sukkah, if that is your minhag [tradition] and if a restaurant wants to be open during sukkot, they have to have a sukkah for these guys) and walking home at night, you see these beautiful booths lit up on every street.As soon as Yom Kippur is over, it is tradition to start building your sukkah. Some people just do a bit and finish the next day but some families get on it that night. There are two main parts to this holiday -

“On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook” (Lev. 23:40), and“You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Lev. 23:42-43).

The first part concerns the Lulav and Etrog. The lulav, as a bunch, is made up of three species - Willow, Myrtle, and Palm. The word lulav refers to the closed palm frond that is the spine or the middle of the bundle called a lulav. The myrtle is called hadass. It has small oval leaves and represents the eyes. Then comes the willow which is called arvah and with it's long leaves, represents the mouth. The last part of this package is the etrog, a citron fruit whose shape resembles the heart. There is another midrash that gives us different symbolism.

  • The lulav has taste but no smell, symbolizing those who study Torah but do not possess good deeds.
  • The hadass has a good smell but no taste, symbolizing those who possess good deeds but do not study Torah.
  • The aravah has neither taste nor smell, symbolizing those who lack both Torah and good deeds.
  • The etrog has both a good taste and a good smell, symbolizing those who have both Torah and good deeds. (thanks to Wikipedia for that)

Here is the lulav that my father bound for the family this year at home in Colorado -I went on a hunt on erev Sukkot (i.e. our holidays begin at night so this was during the day when sukkot was beginning that night) for some cool sukkot pictures in Jerusalem. We went to the ultra orthodox areas. While we couldn't go into the main shouk (market) I did get some neat shots...Also, we build the sukkah to eat, play, and sleep in for the 7 days of sukkot. There are some rules surrounding this dwelling. (For a fun but halachicly [legally] sound version of these rules, head over to my blog - The Laws of Sukkah According to Dr. Seuss.)Some groups choose not to decorate their sukkahs but others decorate them with fruit and vegetables and pictures and lights, etc. I heard one person exclaim, "It's like a Jewish Christmas tree!" Not quite but fun all the same.Here are some sukkah pictures that I collected on my walk -

Yom Kippur in Israel

All of the holidays in Israel are somewhat of a surreal experience. This is especially the case for any of us who come from towns, cities, or places where we aren't surrounded by Jews constantly. If you live in Crown Heights or Boro Park or Williamsburg or even the Pico/Robertson area in LA... you are surrounded by Jews. You don't feel like a minority but in Vero Beach, Florida or Broomfield, Colorado... you would be hard pressed to find someone "like" you. And so has been my existence. Judaism was a family thing for me and less of a communal experience. Sure we had our shuls and that community but we didn't leave near each other nor did we walk to shul so what we had rested in the walls of our synagogue.Jerusalem, in fact Israel, could not be more different. Walking to or from our host families homes for meals on the chaggim (holidays) you see the streets filled with walkers. Sometimes a car will woosh past you but when it does you remark on it with surprise rather than it being the norm. But the best part? The best part of it all... saying Shana Tova or Shabbat Shalom or Chag Sameach to everyone who you pass. It is as if all of Jerusalem becomes one community on the holidays.On Yom Kippur this is especially true. This holiday seems to be the one sobering Jewish fact in the land of Judaism. Secular Jews and less observant Jews will drive on Shabbis or Rosh Hashanah (despite the observant Jews' interpretation of the prohibition to drive on holidays). However, on Yom Kippur, you will find the streets empty of all cars. Even in Tel Aviv which is known for being secular, it is gauche to drive on this sacred day.

The only cars you will see on the road on Yom Kippur are ambulances. The national television and radio also are not broadcast on this day. Our rabbi told us that the lines for Blockbuster are around the block for families who don't celebrate Yom Kippur in preparation of this day!

Yom Kippur in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv is quite a sight to see. But I wasn't there. Instead I chose to spend my Yom Kippur, one of our holiest days, in one of the four holiest cities to Judaism... Tzfat.

Tzfat or Safed or Tsfat or Sefat or Zefat (our multiple ways of trying to recreate a sound that we don't have in English) remains the center of Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah. A hotly contested hill, Tzfat has been home to Jews since the Torah. It was allocated within the land for the tribe of Naftali. The Babyars wiped it out in the 1200's, there was a HUGE influx of incredible rabbis during the Spanish Inquisition of around 1492 and there was a Hebrew printing press there by around 1577. I highly recommend visiting to anyone who is in Israel or coming. Today it is a beautiful mix of shuls, artists, and mysticism.

I traveled with four other women to stay at a lovely hostel called Ascent where we were put up for two nights and they had their own services. It was an incredible and spiritual experience. On Yom Kippur we fast and intensely pray to G!d for not just forgiveness for past deeds but our future. This year, Yom Kippur fell on a Shabbat which makes it an even greater day. We are expressly told not to fast on Shabbat. It is a joyous day not to be marred by fasting or sadness (though I believe there are some exceptions). On Shabbat Yom Kippur, we fast. Many people believe that Yom Kippur is a sad day but that is just the impressions from the trappings (fasting, wearing white, calling out confessions) when in fact it is a joyous day. We are celebrating G-d's intense love for us and us for G-d. Adding the joy of shabbat with the joy of Yom Kippur makes this a special year. Additionally, here I am, standing on top of a mountain (Tzfat is the highest city in the country) shouting my praise and adoration for G-d. My body was physically depleted but my soul was soaring.

The morning after Yom Kippur, we rolled out of our hard, hostel beds and wow! The sun was shining so bright, it was as if we were all standing like Moses in front of G-d's essence of Mount Sinai. I knew this new year was going to be an amazing one.

*Thanks to my Tzfat, Mayanot, and Snorkel & Study buddy Rucheli for that last pic. Check out her blog here - Rucheli's Writings

Totoro Packs

So Talia and I finally started packing and WHOOO! Man! You never realize how much stuff you have until you try to pack it! Thankfully, some dear friends of ours lent us some great, big, plastic tubs to pack the whole apartment up. These are great since this apartment is essentially going into storage.Talia and I got a lot packed and I took a break to look back at my work...And no matter how far we think we've gotten, we still find more things to PACK!Not only is it hard to pack for storage but then we have to think about what we are bringing to Israel. Talia did a lot of work to pull out clothing and supplies for us. Frankly, I am not much of a clothes horse but Talia, that girl loves her closet! I tried to tell her we didn't have that much space, I mean two suitcases at 50lbs a piece isn't that much.I went to look at some of Talia's clothing choices to help her narrow it down...Looks like we have some work to do...

The Laws of Sukkah According to Dr. Seuss

The Laws of Sukkah According to Dr. Seuss (see footnotes below)You can build it very small 1 You can build it very tall 2 You can build it very large 3 You can build it on a barge You can build it on a ship 4 Or on a roof but please don't slip 5 You can build it in an alley 6 You shouldn't build it in a valley 7 You can build it on a wagon 8 You can build it on a dragon 9 You can make the schach of wood 10 Would you, could you, YES you should Make the schach from leaves of treebut shouldn't bend it at the knee 11 Build your Sukkah tall or short No Sukkah’s built in the Temple Court You can build it somewhat soonBut never in the month of June 12If your Sukkah is well made You'll have the right amount of shade 13 You can build it very wide You cannot build it on its side Build if your name is Jim Or Bob or Sam or even Tim Build it if your name is Sue 14 Do you build it, YES you do! From the Sukkah you can roam But you should treat it as your home 15 You can invite some special guests Don't stay in if there are pests You can sleep upon some rugs Don't you build it where there's bugs In the Sukkah you should sit And eat and drink but never spit If in the Sukkah it should rain To stay there would be such a pain 16 And if it should be very cold Stay there only if you're bold So build a Sukkah one and all Make it large or make it small Sukkah rules are short and snappy Enjoy Sukkot, rejoice be happy.  

Notes1.Maimonides (RMBM) Mishne Torah, Hilchot Sukkah, Chapter 4, Section 1. The minimum height of a Sukkah is 10 tepachim. A tepach is a measure of the width of the four fingers of one's hand. My hand is 3 1/4 inches wide for a minimum Sukkah height of 32 1/2 inches. The minimum allowable width is 7 tepachim by 7 tepachim. This would result in a Sukkah of 22 3/4 inches by 22 3/4 inches.2.The maximum height is 20 Amot. An Amah is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. My Amah is 15 1/2 inches for a maximum height of 25 feet. Others say that 30 feet is the maximum.3.According to RMBM the Sukkah can be built to a width of several miles. Shulchan Aruch also says there is no limit on the size of the width.4.RMBM Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 6.5.RMBM Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 11. RMBM states that one may construct a Sukkah by wedging poles in the four corners of the roof and suspending scakh from the poles. The walls of the building underneath are considered to reach upward to the edge of the scakh.6.RMBM Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 8-10 discusses the ins and outs of building your Sukkah in an alley or passageway.7.There is a location referred to in the Talmud called Ashtarot Karnayim. According to the discussion there are two hills, with a valley in between where the Sun does not reach. Therefore it is impossible to sit in the shade of the roof of the Sukkah. I can't find the reference…hopefully next year.8.RMBM Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 6. You can go into a Sukkah built on a wagon or a ship even on Yom Tov.9.RMBM Hilchot Sukkah Chapter 4, Section 6. OK, RMBM says a camel but dragon rhymes with wagon a lot better, don't you agree. Anyway, RMBM says you can build your Sukkah on a wagon or in the crown of a tree, but you can't go into it on Yom Tov. There is a general rule against riding a beast or ascending into the crown of a tree on Yom Tov.10.Chapter 5 deals with the rules for the scakh. Basically, you can use that which has grown from the ground, and is completely detached from the ground. So, for example, you cannot bend the branches of a tree over the Sukkah to form the scakh. But you can cut the branches from a tree and use them as scakh.11.This would be a violation of the rule cited in the prior footnote.12.Shulchan Aruch, Hilchot Sukkah, Perek 636, Section 1 The Sukkah should not be built sooner than 30 days before the Hag. However, if the structure is built prior to 30 days, as long as something new is added within the 30 days, the Sukkah is kosher.13.Of course it's a well known rule that you must sit in the shade from the roof of the Sukkah and not in the shade that may be cast by the walls. It seems that this might affect the height of the walls, depending on the longitude of the location where you are building your Sukkah.14.Traditionally, women, servants and minors are patur from the Mitzvah of Sukkah. In our day we hope we know better than to read out half the Jewish people from the observance of Mitzvot. Of course, that's just a personal opinion of the author.15.MBM ibid Chapter 6, Section 6 explains that you should eat, drink and live in the Sukkah for the 7 days as you live in your own home. One should not even take a nap outside of the Sukkah.16.RMBM ibid, Section 10 If it rains one should go into the house. How does one know if it is raining hard enough? If sufficient raindrops fall through the scakh and into the food so that the food is spoiled go inside!

I would really love to credit this to someone but no one I have spoken to really knows the source of the gem! If you have any clues, please post it here in the comments. Thanks! But a special thanks to my uncle, Rabbi Michael Davis for sharing it this year with our family!Update: Thanks to my fabulous commenters, here is the credit! © Rabbi Arthur E. Gould, Sukkot 1999 – 2001.

Childish Memory

Prior to coming back to Jerusalem this summer, I had a very fuzzy but definitive picture of Jerusalem in my mind. It was built upon memories from the mind of 16 year old me. From the time I came to Jerusalem for the fall semester of my junior year of high school... 13 years ago.There were landmarks in my mind... Ben Yehuda street, Hebrew Union College/Beit Shmuel, King David street, the YMCA, Jabotinsky street, Independence Park... along with less well known locales. The shouk on the corner that was open on Friday nights to sell us beer, the restaurant across the street that served the best pumpkin soup, that place on the corner where our tiuyl bus would always stop and we would run in the back door and get the best baklava ever, and that one street in that one neighborhood where the lady from Belgium sold the BEST waffles ever!Here is the problem with all of these memories - over the years they have degraded a bit, as all sweet memories do and what remains was the fun and sweet parts not the challenging parts (like getting there). Also, most of the time they stuck us on a chartered bus or led us somewhere and we really weren't allowed to go places alone, therefore, I never really learned how to get around by myself.Coming back to Yerushalim (Jerusalem), I wanted to revisit the places of my child's memory but I really didn't know how to get started so I just let it flow. I got to know my new neighborhood and slowly started venturing out with other girls to further places. Currently we are located in the Katamon neighborhood near Emek Rafaim. Emek is a great and busy street with ice cream shops, super markets, tons of restaurants and coffee shops. The setup seemed vaguely familiar but one peek at the map and it seemed like King David street was miles away.It all clicked the day I walked with a friend, on Erev Rosh Hashanah, to my G-dparents' shul. I knew I had been there before but a lot had changed since I was here 13 years ago. We finally found the place and I had a HUGE "AH CHA!" moment. This Emek road that I had been trekking up and down was actually the much less developed street that was a bit of a walk for us but a nice treat 13 years ago. We would buy Pomelos and Pomegranates from the street vendors and sit on the sidewalk and eat. There wasn't nearly as much car traffic as now, if I remember correctly. Also, I don't know where she went but I heard the Belgium waffle lady is still around the city somewhere. It all was starting to make sense. Then I visited with a Denver friend after Rosh Hashanah on Emek. We decided to visit the new Mamilla Mall near the old city. We took a cab and unlocked the other puzzle. Here was the school and dorms, the building that was just started being built (that is now a HUGE and expensive hotel and apartments), and the memories from my child's mind. Sadly, the bits and bobs of collected memory aren't there any more. Most of the shops were removed and the landscape has changed greatly with this new walking mall but there was the Jerusalem of my childhood.It's been an amazing time, connecting past with present and present with future. I am just thankful for the opportunity to do that!

We have to walk?! Where?

Here's something you need to know about Jerusalem. Other than people park/drive on the sidewalks so be careful.It's actually a smallish town. And public transportation and the shops close down for the sabbath. For those of you who have no clue what I am talking about, here is a crash course. On the sabbath, otherwise known as Shabbat or Shabbis or Shabbos, G-d gave us some prohibitions. Since G-d rested on the 7th day, so are we supposed to. This irons out to 39 types of work that a prohibited.Forbidden on Shabbis:

  • Planting
  • Plowing
  • Reaping
  • Binding sheaves
  • Threshing
  • Winnowing
  • Selecting
  • Grinding
  • Sifting
  • Kneading
  • Baking
  • Shearing wool
  • Washing wool (Scouring/Laundering)
  • Beating/Combing wool
  • Dyeing
  • Spinning
  • Weaving
  • Making two loops
  • Weaving at least two threads
  • Separating two threads
  • Tying
  • Untying
  • Sewing at least two stitches
  • Tearing for the purpose of sewing
  • Trapping
  • Slaughtering
  • Flaying
  • Curing hide
  • Scraping hide
  • Scoring hide
  • Cutting hide into pieces
  • Writing (two or more letters)
  • Erasing
  • Building
  • Tearing something down
  • Extinguishing a fire
  • Igniting a fire
  • Applying the finishing touch
  • Transferring between domains

If you want more details on this, check out the trusty Wikipedia, but suffice to say, some seem super relevant and some not so much but our sages and rabbis have made them relevant. Okay fine. I don't want to get to involved in the laws but this means that all the public transport are shut down and we can't take a cab to our destination. If you want to go anywhere, your only choice is to walk.The point here is that on my very first shabbis in Jerusalem, which has been building a great anticipation, we are walking to the Kotel. Yes, my friends, we are headed to the Western Wall. Very exciting... except it is a 35 minute walk from school.In America, either you go to a shul nearby or you don't go. At least, that is how it is near me. Or frankly, some of us will just drive to shul anyway because the mitzvah of going to daven is more important to me than the prohibition to drive that has been derived from these 39 prohibitions on work. I don't think either perspective is wrong, just different ways to look at the same coin.So we head out for the Kotel. You don't really notice the somewhat strenuous walk because the scenery is amazing. You pass new apartments and old domiciles, petrol stations and ancient roadways. Jerusalem is an amazing amalgam of modernity and old style. New ideas and strongly held ideals.We took the snake path up the side of hill on which the Old City sits. The anticipation builds.We walk along the walls and enter through the Zion Gate. I am ACTUALLY in the Old City!Down the hills and streets, past the playground inside the Old City where Muslim and Christian boys play Football (Soccer to the Americans), and into the crush to go through the security to get to the Kotel.The image laid out before me was breathtaking.

We pushed our way up to as close as we could get to the wall, on the women's side, and did our evening prayers, the Maariv service. Despite being pushed and knocked over by over zealous Christian Russian bloc tourists, it was quite an amazing experience.

The walk back didn't seem to be quite as strenuous... perhaps my self was lighter for the experience.

Traveling Talia for Tishrei, Pt 2

Once I actually found the sherut (taxi van), I had to tell them where I was going… I (I know, I know silly me) didn’t actually write down the address, I just knew it in my head. But when they asked me… I was pronouncing it like an American… and not correctly. And I had forgotten it was a two word name Hizkiyahu HaMelech. Only the document I had had the first word spelled Yehesikayhu… at least I knew my neighborhood, Ketamon.As we drive towards Jerusalem, we are stopped several times to be checked by soldiers. I don’t know the location or purpose of the check other than to keep bombs from exploding in Israeli cities. We passed walls and barbed wire, check points, cities and deserts. All stunning to watch fly by as you hold on for dear life (Israeli drivers are up there for worst in the WORLD… folks, in Israel, the sidewalk is not just for walking, it is for parking too, evidently). After letting a few people off, the driver hounded me for more information. I became a serious casualty of American convenience. When my iPhone would not pick up a signal and I when could not check my email for the details, panic began to spread through my stomach. How in the world would I find my Yeshiva? Would he dump me on some unknown corner with my three suitcases (seriously though I am here for 5 months…) and I would have to end up making camp on the sidewalk? Finally I remembered that my iPhone stored old emails and found one with the address on it. Thank G-d! The other passengers were getting nasty with me. Not as if I was holding them up, he kept dropping them off as I was trying to figure myself out.He dumps me on a corner and I see the school a block up… hill… I start to panic a bit. Here I am in a country where suitcases are blown up if they are left alone for even one minute (because that could be a bomb) with too much luggage (yes mom, you were right … though I was thankful for every bit when I got inside), a very poor command of spoken Hebrew and no way to get to the school. And then, a bright shiny face greeted me.“Are you with Mayanot?” she asked IN ENGLISH!“YES!” I replied tamping down the urge to hug her. She took me to the gate and helped me carry my luggage down the stairs and up the stairs and finally I found my home for the next five months.Yes, I am nearly 30 and living in a dorm and sharing a bathroom and eating communal meals but the classes, the knowledge, the atmosphere of incredible women is worth every second.Yes, we are locked away in our safe castle for now (locked gates all around the building to keep us safe) but soon it will be Tishrei and time to venture out and celebrate the Jewish holidays with the entire country.Did you know our weeks are Sunday through Thursday here? Friday is the Muslim sabbath and Saturday is ours so Fri and Sat are the Israeli Sat and Sun.Did you know you are not allowed to open for business on the holidays here? Pretty cool. To hear the shofar blown in the city of the Bais HaMigdash (the Holy Temple), I think will be a defining moment for me and I hear the singing and dancing parties on Simchat Torah are pretty amazing here.