Friends with Benefits

January 11, 2007

The expression “friends with benefits” usually has less than PG-rated connotations. But this week, my wife Jody and I felt we were true recipients of the benefits of having the right friends when we were invited to a gourmet dinner party held in honor of Mallory and Eli’s upcoming wedding. The venue was a private […]

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Iran as Psychotherapy

January 4, 2007

I was interviewed this week by Michele Chabin, a reporter from the New York Jewish Week, and asked to give an “average Israeli’s” opinion on the threat from Iran. How did it make us feel? Were we afraid? Did we have thoughts of leaving? Was the world community’s response comforting or confounding? The interview came […]

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The Paradox of Choice: Consumer Lessons for the Holiday Season

December 22, 2006

In his fascinating and compelling book “The Paradox of Choice,” Barry Schwartz describes the process of buying a pair of jeans. At his local Gap, he tells a saleswoman that his size is 32 waist, 28 length. “Do you want them slim fit, easy fit, relaxed fit, baggy or extra baggy,” the saleswoman replies, then […]

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A Prince in Egypt

December 15, 2006

“Don’t go,” “You’re crazy,” “Its just not safe.” These were a few of the choice admonitions we received when we told friends and family we had planned a vacation in Egypt. Our friends weren’t crazy. They were clearly acting out of love and from what they’ve read in the media: Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula is indeed […]

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The Price of a Night’s Sleep

December 7, 2006

You know the old saying “time is money?” Well, how much would you say time spent sleeping is worth? As I found out on a recent family vacation: exactly $119 plus tax. We were driving down the California coast from San Francisco to San Diego, stopping for the night at inexpensive motels. Our first night was in Monterey and […]

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Between A Rock and a Hard Case

November 30, 2006

Shabbat afternoon in the park with my friend Eliot from out of town, eight-year-old Aviv and Eliot’s two little boys, Liav and Avidan, both of them under the age of 10, playing happily, riding scooters around a mostly empty basketball court while their parents chatted about whatever it is adults chat about. The weather was […]

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Thanksgiving in Israel

November 23, 2006

Every year, just about this time of the month, I get a flurry of emails from friends and colleagues all with pretty much the same message. It goes something like this: “Happy Thanksgiving, that is if you celebrate it over there…er, do you?” So, what do immigrants from the U.S. to Israel do on the […]

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A Fallible Nation

November 16, 2006

Nicholas Goldberg, editor of the Los Angeles Times’ op-ed section, published an article in that paper portraying Israel as a nation exhausted and suffering from a deep malaise. The summer’s failed war in Lebanon, the inability of the Israel Defense Forces to stop the Kassam barrage coming from the Gaza Strip, and ongoing corruption and […]

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A Cloud over Jerusalem

November 14, 2006

Their economy is better and terrorism has decreased, but Israelis are losing their characteristic ‘stoic optimism.’ By Nicholas GoldbergLos Angeles Times November 12, 2006 See original article here In the 1990s, when I lived in Jerusalem, Israelis were famous for a sort of stoic optimism in the face of trouble. Hamas suicide bombers would sneak […]

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The Middle Ground

November 9, 2006

There are a few constants in this world: siblings will rival, property taxes will rise, and following a trip to North America, I will wax nostalgic for the “old country.” Our most recent family vacation was no exception. The trip was book-ended by two gala smachot – festive family events that included the bar mitzvah […]

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