[img]96|left|||no_popup[/img]Dateline Jerusalem – Last week at a Shabbat dinner, some people I met for the first time asked what I did for a living. I told them I used to be a cop and an attorney when I lived in the States. Then a friend asked what I do all day now that I am in Israel and no longer working in those professions. I laughed and said “nothing.” Everyone has been laughing ever since because they find it hard to believe I do nothing. They are right. I am busier now than ever before.

A couple of weeks ago I was the guest speaker for the Rehovot English-speaking chapter of an Israeli national religious women's movement charitable organization. The topic was “From Cop to Snood,” and I spoke about my life experiences as a Jewish girl growing up in a relatively secular home in California, my undergraduate university studies at UCLA, my experiences on the Los Angeles Sheriff's Dept., going to law school with a 2-year-old and 4-year-old, and having my third child during my last year of law study, my legal career and community involvement, my spiritual journey in becoming a religious Jew, my decision to make aliyah and move to Israel, and how anti-Semitism has affected me and my family. I was amazed at the response I received following my speech. Wherever I go, people tell me they heard about my talk, and I am approached about speaking to other organizations. Not only have I been a speaker for the religious women's charity, but I am an active member, now on the board, and in charge of the Coffee and Torah program. The Art of Painting

I am taking an oil painting class in which I am not permitted to sketch the picture, but formulate it by only using paint. It is one of the hardest things I have done. The fact that something is actually taking shape on the canvas using this method of oil painting surprises me. I am currently working on a landscape, and I have decided that this will be my first and my last one. I must get back to drawing again. When I worked a particular assignment as a cop, I pretended to be an art student. I would draw the portrait of the criminal and then attach it to the police report. There never was a question of identity.

I am also taking a language ulpan to finally learn to speak and write Hebrew. The class is small. So there is individual attention. I ask lots of inane questions, but I am approaching the course as I did law school. I am not embarrassed appearing as a moron to the others in the class, all of whom already have taken an ulpan course. Only two of us are new at it. In law school, I asked idiotic questions, but I passed the bar exam on my first try. Some who snickered at me in class had to take the bar a few times. I am actually enjoying Hebrew. I cannot wait to speak with my 7-year-old granddaughter who has just started learning the language, too.

Shopping for Room

I spend my time looking for apartments because I must move from the one I have been living in the last five years. Right now I must walk up four flights of stairs on Shabbat and holidays (the fourth floor in Israel is really the fifth floor in the U.S.). The apartment I hope to rent only will require that I climb one flight of stairs. It is next door to friends of mine. That is an added bonus. I have decided not to buy an apartment but rent instead so that I have money to fly back and forth to California. Not only is the 8,000- mile non-stop flight from Tel Aviv to Los Angeles time consuming, it can get expensive. Renting an apartment in Israel is so different from renting in the States. In Israel, the landlord rents the apartment, takes your post-dated rent checks for a year in advance (here it is not illegal to post-date checks), and that is the end of the landlord's obligations. The tenant pays the homeowner association fees (Vaad Bayit), water, gas, electricity, arnona (housing tax), and a lot of the repairs to the apartment. No laws require heating or air conditioning in the unit. The tenant must provide his or her own oven, refrigerator, washing machine. The tenant also must have someone guarantee them. That means another person takes on the responsibility of assuring the landlord will be compensated if the tenant does not pay rent due. In addition to the guarantee, the tenant must provide a security deposit of anywhere from $2,500-$10,000. Dollars, not shekels! No wonder so many new immigrants arrive and return to their country of origin.

Getting Better, I Hope

I also spend my days going to doctors, taking lab tests, having medical procedures. I told my sister that I do not know how I got along when I worked fulltime and would spend an additional five hours a day commuting back and forth by trains and buses to the office in Jerusalem. Maybe that is why I was not the most compliant of patients. Israel is unlike the U.S. in that people here work a 5½- or 6-day week. Their only days off are part of Friday and Saturday. The work week starts on Sunday. There is no transportation from late Friday afternoon until late Saturday night in observance of Shabbat. Most places are closed. That means all errands must be taken care of on Friday morning or early afternoon. The problem with that is government agencies are closed, all branches of my banks are closed in my town, and what is open becomes a nightmare to get into.

I shop and have lunch or dinner with friends at least once a week to unwind. I spend hours at the used paperback bookstore or at used book sales. Reading is my passion. I go to government agencies to deal with bureaucratic matters. I do research for the novel I am writing. I peruse dozens of newspapers and “think tank” publications. I try to keep informed about Israeli and U.S. politics. I attend lectures. And of course, I spend time writing my weekly articles.

What do I do all day besides waking up to pray? Nothing?

L'hitraot. Shachar