Only in Israel - The Roundup

For my one year blogiversary I treated myself to one of my favorite things - "only in Israel" stories. Not only do I enjoy reading them, but even though not all of them are positive, in general they give me chizuk (strength) for the inevitable times when living in Israel is not a bed of roses.

I am presenting them in no particular order, just as I received them.

First to respond was Yaakov at Aliyahblog. First of all, the entire blog is a great resource for anyone who has made aliyah. He has a special section for just these kind of stories. Here are a few favorites.

This is not exactly a "blue light special" (remember Kmart?) but it is a great find in the supermarket just the same. This post shows that lessons in good middot (character traits) can be found in the most unlikely places. Trusting other Jews can be felt clearly in this great story.

Batya tells of a very beautiful way to tell when winter is here.

Purpleparrot has a "rated R" only in Israel story, where she tells about her encounter with a creep and the nice man who helped her get over it.

Ezzie shares with us two of his stories - and in both he takes off his kipa.

Bec tells us about how hachnassat orchim (hospitality) helped her decide to come back to Israel.

A past visit to Israel inspires Soccerdad's story about how he was taken for a ride.

MominIsrael tells about her encounter with a person with the classic Israeli "rosh katan" (literally small head - someone who can't think for themselves).

Rafi from LifeinIsrael has an interesting story about what the hospital guard was really worried about, and another about what is not allowed to be made in Israel.

Aliyah06 at BakaDiary has a disturbing story about reserved seats in shul - I know that this doesn't happen only in Israel, but unfortunately sometimes does. (Move to a yishuv - we don't treat people like that where we live!)

EmahS has some nice short stories, including a funny shopping experience.

Esseragaroth describes his unusual footwear problems, and some of the stereotypes that come along with it.

Last but not least, I received this only in Israel story in an email from someone who calls himself SabbaShimon, which only proves that, in Israel at least, rules are made to be broken:

"This could only've happened in Israel:
At the time I was inducted into Tsahal (Nov. '82) Raful had instigated a new rule-- due to communication problems in Lebanon, all new immigrants, regardless of their Hebrew skills, would henceforth be required to do a three month stint at a camp in Haifa, combining military "conditioning" with Hebrew learning. After the first three weeks I could see that this wasn't going to work for me, so I decided to see what I could do to get out and join the tank basic training that I had wanted from the start. Long story short, I hitchhiked on a Friday to Afula instead of home to Merom Golan, spent the night there, and on Shabbat morning hitched a ride to Raful's moshav. I ended up sharing breakfast with him, his wife, and daughter, in all spending about two hours in his home, all the while explaining to him why it would be more beneficial to my Hebrew if I were able to be in a group of Israelis at basic training, rather than a bunch of immigrants from all over, who, as soon as they would step out of the classroom would revert to their mother tongue amongst each other. He made no promises (it was his new rule, after all). After continuing on to the kibbutz for Saturday night, I returned to camp in Haifa early Sunday morning to find the whole camp on it's toes, having received a hand written note from the chief-of-staff to immediately send one private Shimon Russo to the tank corps' basic training that had just commenced at Nitzanim. Later I learned that his office sent a note stating that that would be the first and last time that the camp in Haifa (Stella Maris)would ever allow that to happen.Can you imagine even being able to get close to the Chief-of-Staff in America, let alone being invited in for breakfast, and then him agreeing to a one-of in contradiction to his own orders? There is much more to this story, but that's it in a nutshell."

Chodesh Tov everybody!