Remember Danielle Sheldon? She came to Israel with Nefesh B’Nefesh in August. I caught up with her in Jerusalem after Rosh Hashana and figured it would be a great time to follow up with her and see how her Aliyah is going.

So nu Danielle? How’s it going? What happened to old Danielle?
Jerk. I said “nu” not new. Well now that you clarified that…
Can you answer the question? What was the question?
How are you doing? I’m well, thanks, how are you?
Who cares about me?? We want to know how your time in Israel has been so far? It’s been great! I love Israel. I did a one month Arabic course which was awesome. I found an apartment, almost finished registering for University – so far I have been surviving the infamous Israeli bureaucracy.
Did you pick a health care provider yet? I hate you. I tried to sign up with Maccabi. Bituach Le’umi told me at the airport that after three days my paperwork would be filed and I would be signed up with Maccabi. Five weeks later they have supposedly finished filing my paperwork but Maccabi doesn’t seem to think so.
As a self-proclaimed Conservative, I thought you’d kind of be offended by this universal health care they’re giving you. You know, you could always just pay full-pop for your Doctors, right? …as I have thus far, however, while I generally oppose the idea of socialized medicine particularly on the grounds that it tends to be good for the masses but bad for the individual, in Israel socializing the medical system was a necessary evil in decreasing the power of the unions.
So you accepted the lesser of two evils? Life is all about compromises. And you’re a jerk.
I know, sorry. Just creating a little fun controversy at your expense. OK, ok… so school starts in November… If I can ever get registered…
You’ll be getting your MA at Tel Aviv University. Are you getting into that Jerusalem/Tel Aviv dichotomy thing? You just spent Rosh Hashana in Jerusalem, what do you think about the debate? Every place in Israel has its own special feeling and its own special vibe. I like Jerusalem, I love its history. The South is beautiful. The North is enchanting. But Tel Aviv feels like home.
Very diplomatically worded. I see you may have a future with the diplomatic corps. Or as a spokesperson for Elite Chocolates. I like chocolate!
How so very seasonally appropriate! Do you have anything you want to say to the Jewish people? First of all I want to wish everyone a shana tova umetukah. Second, I want to thank Nefesh B’Nefesh for all their invaluable help and support during the whole aliyah process.
OK but seriously, don’t you miss your friends and your family? Nefesh B’Nefesh is awesome, but you can’t call them at 2 am because you’re drunk and locked out of your apartment… Of course I miss my friends and family. One of my friends just got engaged. I miss them terribly, but my friends here are cool too and I am meeting new people and I talk to my friends and family back in the states a lot and I hope they know that I love them and miss them. I feel like I’m home though.
OK last question because you look hungry… Obama or McCain? I plead the 5th.
That’s US constitutional protection that you cannot benefit from here. No one wants to hear you plead the 5th… No one wants to hear me plead McCain either….
There you have it folks. Danielle supports McCain. In all likelihood, the only American Jew under 35 who does so. Now everyone’s going to hate me!
Screw them. You’re here. That’s all that matters. True that.

Follow me

About the author

ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

8 Comments

  • Why should anyone be against Israeli health care? It’s not “socialized medicine.” It’s not one gov’t system. It’s a choice of private-ish deals, with very reasonable rates.
    I wish Danielle luck!!

  • Just to clarify – Israel does not have socialized medicine.

    Israel reformed its fully-funded socialized medical system into a free-market system with partial subsidies.

    A basket of basic services receives *partial* government subsidy. Co-payments by the insured make up the rest.

    This provides basic care to all at a reasonable cost while encouraging free-market competition and efficiency.

  • “There you have it folks. Danielle supports McCain. In all likelihood, the only American Jew under 35 who does so.”

    I know another one, my friend.

  • “Now everyone’s going to hate me!”

    How could anyone hate someone with such beautiful brown eyes

  • Thanks for the lesson in how not to make time with a babe. Note to self: passive aggression rarely helps.

  • you found quite the lady to highlight here on jewlicious.

    shana tovah chaverim!

  • there are many under 35 year olds that support McCain.

    They just dont have time to be vocal because they are to busy with other things. They support him, They will vote on Nov. 2nd, and thats that.

    No big buttons and stickers and tears.

    Hope! Change!

    I want Reality, and Dollars.