[img]96|left|||no_popup[/img] Dateline Jerusalem — Sometimes I am frustrated by the 10-hour time difference between Israel and Los Angeles. It always seems that in order for family and friends to contact me when they are not at work or when I am not sleeping or I am at home, I am not permitted a good night's sleep. When I get calls at 4 a.m. in Israel, it is 6 p.m. in L.A., and I am told “But we knew you would be awake.”

I was only awake at that hour because the phone rang. By the time I finally get back to sleep, it is time to wake up and get out of the house. Many a night I find that I cannot fall back to sleep at all, which translates into being a zombie the rest of the day.

But I have to admit it is just as frustrating for those in Los Angeles who need to get up early in the morning and cannot call me until late at night. There is such a small window of time in which to make calls.

Figuring Out a Schedule

Being religious makes it even more difficult for me to communicate with the West Coast. I am Shomer Shabbat, which means that I cannot speak on the phone from the time I light Shabbat candles 18 minutes before sundown on Friday night until 25 hours later on Saturday night. But sundown Friday night for me is early Friday morning for Californians. Saturday night for me is still Saturday day for them. Although I am permitted to speak after Shabbat, I am still unable to call my Jewish friends and relatives because by doing so, I would be causing them to violate the Sabbath (Shabbat). Therefore, I am unable to contact them until their Saturday night, my Sunday morning, a typical workday in Israel. Technically, there is no communication for me with them from Friday evening until Monday morning. Of course most of them are not Shomer Shabbat. They speak on the phone Friday night and Saturday. Even though I know that they voluntarily violate Shabbat and could care less about my calling them then, I am still forbidden from doing so.

There is another problem with the time and distance constraints. The majority of Americans have a five-day work week. Saturday and Sunday are when Americans get errands done. Israel's work week is six days for most people. It begins on Sunday. I say “most people” because banks and many government offices are closed on Friday when Israelis get off work early to be home in time for Shabbat. Somehow Tuesday afternoon seems to be a time when these offices and businesses are closed. With the addition of “siesta time” from 1 to 3 hours daily, there isn't much time for people to get their errands accomplished. For example, my bank is closed on Friday and has the daily “siesta time” and half day two days a week. Now I understand the phrase “banker's hours.” It would not be too bad if all my transactions were via ATM or online. Usually, though, I need to go to the bank in person. In the States I could order checkbooks and credit cards and have them delivered to my home. In Israel, my bank will not send them by mail. I am required to pick them up in person. When I was working and traveling by bus and train for 4 to 5 hours a day and working an 8 ½-hour day on top of that, I often would have to pick up checks and credit cards from another branch closer to my job. Unfortunately, I never had a long enough lunch hour. I really feel sorry for those who must take off a day of work to run errands.

It is midnight my time, and I am awaiting the phone to ring in an hour . I am exhausted since I was on the phone during the early morning hours, multi-tasking by speaking and reading emails at the same time. I found out my email account had been hacked. I could not fall asleep and spent the entire day changing passwords, sending out emails with my new address. Ultimately, I became upset to find that there is a limit to the number of emails I can send. My new email account was blocked from sending emails. This means a lot of my contact list has not been informed of my change in email address. When it rains, it pours.

Shabbat shalom.

L'hitraot. Shachar.