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Showing posts from December, 2017

Technological Silver Linings - According to a Luddite...

A long, long time ago, I can still remember how it used to be...and if you know the start of that song, you're of a certain age either when that song was popular and on the radio, or it was a hit of the oldies in your childhood! Which means you also likely recall life before the internet and websites and blogs (irony not lost here!) and Facebook. I remember getting our first computer, the Apple IIC . I remember the computer lab at school with a limited number of games to introduce us to this newfangled thing a computer. I remember having a computer of my own in high school - that tiny six inch monitor as part of the all in one computer platform - such an advancement! No internet yet, but not far off - just as I went off to college. I remember learning how to use email and connect virtually and remotely with my friends who were spread across the country. I remember my first generation Mac laptop in college. And now, I have one, if not two handheld computers in my purse or near me...

Seven Years Back...Seven Years Forward

Eight years ago we decided to take the job offer from Intel and make aliyah. It was a one-way move. It took us another half year to get it all organized. We packed up and moved. Then we arrive. Las year was our sabbatical (שבתון in Hebrew) year, our Shmita year. It was a time for us, whether we knew it or not, to take a bit of a rest, a rest from this exhausting and exhilarating process of absorption into Israeli society. I did a bit of a mental relax, not really a check out, more of a check in - an adjustment of expectations. The history of the State of Israel and the stories surrounding her founding are told in epic, mythical proportions in the diaspora. It's hard as a Jewish child not to be engaged by these stories, won over, even. The challenges were massive and daunting. The confidence and enthusiasm were boundless. The pioneers who founded the State of Israel would be successful. We talk about the heroic establishment of Israel, the heroic history of the country, and t...